Battlestar Centarus
by John Sayers
Summary: The Galactica and Pegasus weren't the only two battlestars to survive. There was a third, the Centarus. This is the story of the days before the Fall and shortly after. The Centarus has to protect its own  fleet and it doesn't cross paths with Galactica.
1. Chapter 1

**This is an alternate reality and not set in the canonical BSG universe. The Cylons are different and there are thirteen human models. The seventh Cylon model is now female and was never destroyed by the Number One model.**

**Oh, and please review. I want to know what you think of this story.**

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**Battlestar Centarus**

**Chapter 1**

**12 Days Before the Fall of the Colonies**

Admiral Struchen Adonai was lying on the floor of the commanding officer's quarters of the Battlestar Centarus. His eyes were empty as he stared up at his ceiling. He had a couch right next to where he was lying, but he was at peace when he was on the floor. The floor was tile and hard but it didn't effect Adonai. He found it relaxing when he would lay on that floor and looked up at his ceiling. Several times he had fallen asleep on his floor, and he nearly fell asleep this time. As his mind drifted, he took off his glasses and laid them next to him. He thought about how many people thought that he was too young to be an admiral in the fleet and commaning his own battlestar. They may be right, but he didn't care. It wasn't just him who was criticized. His battlestar had the youngest crew of all the battlestars, but Adonai knew that they could go and fly with some of the best.

The lights flickered in his room and he snapped out of his trance. He heard sirens go off and then they died down. He rubbed his face and put on his glasses. "Frakking system's doing it again."

This was the Centarus, a Mercury class battlestar and one of the newest at that, but it was acting as old as the decommissioned battlestars. He knew it was Dr. Gaius Baltar's networking program. At first he found it amazing, but soon after, the ship started going crazy and now it was a sure bet the program was going to shut down the ship sooner or later. The program had similar problems in Battlestar Huntress and Battlestar Byzantium. Adonai wanted that system taken out of his ship. It was driving him insane, but there was something about that program. He could sense it, but he couldn't figure it out. There was something not right about it.

As he laid there thinking about it, the power went out in the ship. He sat up and said, "You have got to be frakking kidding me!"

Adonai stood up, grabbed a flashlight and stormed to the Centarus CIC. The glass doors opened to the room and he entered inside. He was saluted as he entered the CIC and he saluted back. The XO of the ship, Commander Persephone Johanson, subconsciously smiled as he entered the room. Everyone knew that Adonai and Persephone had a thing for each other, but they were blind to it themselves. But as she looked at Adonai she could tell he was not in a very good mood and she decided to tell him what happened, "Power just went out all across the ship."

"How did this happen!" asked Adonai.

"We don't know," answered Persephone.

"I bet you anything that it is Dr. Baltar's program," said Adonai, "I want that thing out of my ship."

"I know what you mean," said Persephone.

The power came back onto the ship. Adonai looked around and asked, "Where are the closest shipyards at?"

Persephone looked on the map and said, "We're here and that makes the closest shipyards are about four hours away, and they are the shipyards orbiting Sagittaron. Looks like you're going home, Adonai."

Adonai nodded and said, "I could visit them. I haven't had time, but now, with this system failure, I will, and you can visit your family. Canceron is only a raptor jump away from Sagittaron."

"I might do that," said Persephone.

"Do you want me to make it an order?" asked Adonai.

"No, Sir," said Persephone.

"Good," said Adonai, "When we get there, go take a raptor and get some time off with your family, Persephone. We'll pick you up when the Centarus is straightened out."

"Yes, Sir," Persophene said.

She walked out of the CIC and Adonai told the crew, "Let's get this ship fixed."

**Libran**

**Memphis Law Academy**

Brianna Swanson walked down a hallway of the Memphis Law Academy. The sunlight poured in and lit up the white marble hallway. She walked to her car after her classes had ended and was going to catch a ship to visit her cousins on Canceron for spring break. Her cousins were from Libran but by chance both got jobs on Canceron. Jeremiah was a viper pilot stationed on the brand new Battlestar Byzantium and his older sister, Christina, was working for the Canceron government in the efforts to help the exploding Canceron population. Brianna got into her car and drove to the interplanetary airport and got her ticket for her flight to Canceron.

**Picon**

**Orbiting Concert Hall**

Allison Santorini was finishing practicing for her concert she was going to give in orbit around Picon. It was the third colony in a tour of all the colonies. She had already performed for Gemenon and Leonis. After several more songs, she finished and went to her dressing room. She opened the door and went inside. She saw a man sitting in one of her chairs. She smiled and said, "If you were anyone else, I would have already called security."

"Maybe you should," the man said.

Allison walked over to him and smiled, "Shut up, Nathaniel."

"Testy," Nathaniel Graystone smiled back at her.

"Just because you came into my dressing room without my permission," said Allison. Allison sat down on Nathaniel's lap. She leaned over and they kissed each other. Allison broke off and said, "I love you, Nathan."

Nathan looked into her eyes and replied, "I love you too, Ally."

Allison smiled again and sat straight up on Nathan's lap. She looked at him and asked, "Are you going to do a song with me?"

"Why? Do you want me to?" asked Nathan.

"Maybe," said Allison.

"You do, don't you?" asked Nathan. She didn't answer him and turned her head around. He said, "You do."

Nathan tickled Allison's sides and through laughter she said, "Stop it, Nathan. Stop it."

Allison jumped and ran away from him. He chased and made it to her door first and blocked it. He asked, "Where you going in such a hurry?"

Allison stopped and said, "I have to do another practice."

"Oh come on. Picon can wait," said Nathan, "Now it's my turn."

"Well then, Nathan," said Allison, "Come and get me."

"Oh I will," said Nathan.

Allison ran away and Nathan chased her again. She stopped running and leaned against a wall in the room and Nathan came up to her. She smiled and jumped at him. They kissed passionately and the two fell to the ground. Allison was on top of Nathan as the two still kissed. She stopped and rolled off onto the floor. She was sitting down next to him. Allison looked at Nathan and took off her shirt. She then sat on Nathan's lap in her bra and told him, "You're right, Nathan. Picon can wait. It is your turn."

**Leonis**

Gerald Bhuta walked towards his car on his way home. He was going to visit his brother and congratulate him on his new command. His brother was Mickey Bhuta and had just gotten command over the newest Mercury class battlestar, the Battlestar Byzantium. It was a special occasion for his family. He was going to go home to pick his wife up so they could make the last flight to Canceron for the day. He got into his car and drove off to his house which was a couple hours away. He began his drive over the expansive great plains of Leonis.

**Sagittaron**

The Battlestar Centarus flew towards the Sagittaron shipyards. Even though the planet Sagittaron was probably the poorest of all the colonies, the colonial fleet put shipyards in orbit around the planet like it did with the other colonies. The Sagittaron shipyards may not be the best, but they would have to do.

In the Centarus CIC, Admiral Adonai called the Sagittaron shipyards and said, "This is Admiral Struchen Adonai of the Battlestar Centarus requesting to dock at your shipyards."

"This is the Sagittaron shipyards. You are cleared to dock. Welcome to the Sagittaron shipyards, Admiral Adonai. Welcome home."

"Thank you," said Adonai, "And it's good to be home."

Adonai hung up and turned to Persephone and she said, "I'll take a raptor to Canceron when we dock and get the ship checked it. I actually bought a couple tickets to a pyramid game a few days away. The Hades Vice are going to put the hurt on those Sagittaron Archers. I bought you a ticket to witness your defeat."

Adonai smiled and said, "Oh I don't think so, Persephone. Your Vice won't win against my Archers."

"We'll see who wins this in the arena," said Persephone.

"I'll be waiting for that," said Adonai, "Bring it."

**Picon**

Allison and Nathan were laying on the floor of Allison's dressing room. Their clothes were thrown all over the room. Allison's head was on Nathan's chest and she was sleeping, but Nathan was awake. He was staring up at the ceiling looking both hurt and scared. Nathan looked down at Allison sleeping. He smiled and kissed her on the head. She woke up and looked at him, "What is it?"

Nathan shook his head and said, "Nothing, Ally. Nothing's wrong. Go back to sleep."

Allison nodded and fell back to sleep. After several minutes, Nathan whispered, "I hope she can forgive me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Sagittaron**

**11 Days Before the Fall**

Admiral Struchen Adonai walked down towards one of the airlocks that had a hard seal with the Sagittaron shipyards. He was saluted the whole time as he made his way to the airlock. He opened the airlock door and stepped out into the shipyard's airlock and made it into the hallway. He was greeted by a man who held out his hand and said, "I'm Commander Joseph Parks of the Sagittaron Shipyards. Admiral, it's good to see you're back home."

Adonai shook his hand and said, "It's good to be back home. Did you get my message why we're here?"

Parks took a clipboard from someone who was standing next to them and he said, "You're here because your ship is experiences power outages and malfunctions. You believe it is the networking program that was created by Dr. Baltar."

"I know it is," said Adonai.

"We'll have to check all the systems and when we find out what is wrong with it, we will let you know," Parks told Adonai.

"How long until then?" asked Adonai.

"At least half a day," said Parks, "Maybe longer."

"That's fine," said Adonai, "I just want my ship to work like it's supposed to."

"We'll get her working properly in no time," said Parks, "Until then the whole shipyards are open to you."

"Thank you," said Adonai. The two shook hands again and Parks left. Adonai walked down a hallway towards one of the lounges in the shipyards.

**Leonis**

"Jennifer, hurry up, we're going to miss our flight," said Gerald Bhuta through the door to the bathroom in his house, "It's not like we are going to another city on Leonis. We are going to Canceron. We need to hurry."

"I'm going as fast as I can," his wife told him through the door, "I'm almost done."

"Okay," Gerald said. He walked into the living room in the house and turned on the television. He changed the channel to the Leonan News Center, LNC, and sat on his couch listening to the news.

After several minutes, Jennifer came out of the bathroom. There were tears in her eyes and said, "I have something to tell you."

Gerald looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm crying because we're going to be parents," said Jennifer.

Gerald jumped up and asked, "We're going to be parents?"

"Yes," said Jennifer, "I'm pregnant."

"That's wonderful!" Gerald said. Gerald lifted Jennifer in a hug and swung her around. He put her down and they kissed. Gerald said, "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I," Jennifer said through a huge smile.

**Virgon**

Brianna Swanson walked into the Virgon Interplanetary Airport and made her way to her flight, the Draconis. She thought that was a strange name, but she wasn't going to tell anyone that. She found her seat in Section 7 and she sat down in her seat. It was an aisle seat and she was grateful for that. She didn't like being confined between two people. It was one of the many things she didn't like doing.

Across the aisle, there was a dark blonde woman staring at Brianna. The woman wore jeans and a purple tank top. After a while, Brianna had enough and asked, "What's your problem?"  
"Nothing," the woman said, "I'm Brie. What's your name?"

"Almost identical to your name. It's Brianna. Why were you staring at me?" asked Brianna.

"Because you're frakking hot," said Brie, "I can't help myself." Brie rested her head on her hand and smiled at Brianna.

"I don't go that way," said Brianna.

"You'll come around," said Brie, "They always do."

"Why?" asked Brianna. She was getting a very uneasy feeling about this Brie.

"Maybe because it's part of God's plan," Brie said.

"Which god?" asked Brianna, "There are so many."

"None of those gods, but the one true God," said Brie.

"Okay," said Brianna.

A man came up the aisle and looked Brie. He told her, "You're in my seat."

"What?" asked Brie. She looked at her ticket and saw she was supposed to be in Section 6. She said, "Oh, would you look at that. You're right. Too bad. I was hoping I was going to sit next to Hottie for the trip."

Brianna was clearly uncomfortable, and she looked away from Brie. Brie stood up and left, blowing a kiss to Brianna as she left. The man sat down in the seat and said, "She's gone."

Brianna turned back around and didn't see Brie, "Thank the gods. She was freaking me out."

"She was weird," said the man. He looked at Brianna and told her, "I'm Conner Gailec."

Brianna looked at Gailec and told him, "Brianna Swanson."

"Brianna," said Gailec, "That's a nice name."

"Thank you," said Brianna. This was going to be a much easier flight with Conner Gailec riding next to her instead of that strange blonde woman Brie. There was something about that woman that didn't feel right. It was more than just her blatant attraction to Brianna. It was something different and it scared Brianna.

The pilot came on over the intercom and said, "Half an hour before the Draconis is off for Canceron."

**Picon**

Allison Santorini sat down at her mirror in Nathan's shirt and her underwear. She writing a song that kept coming into her head whenever she was in moments of intense emotions. It didn't matter what she was feeling. She could be mad, sad, happy or anything else. Once they reached a certain point, the song would pop into her head. It would leave as fast as it came if she wasn't careful. She had been writing down all the parts she could remember, but just like all the other times, the song faded and she couldn't get as much of it as she wanted to get. She sat there for another hour, but the song was gone.

Nathan walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She came out of her trance and put her right hand on the hand that was on her left shoulder. Nathan saw what she had written down and asked, "What's that?"

"I don't know," said Allison, "It's a song that comes to me sometimes, but then when I go to right it down, the song goes away except for little segments."

"Maybe it hasn't stayed because it's not yet time for the song to be revealed to you," said Nathan.

"Maybe," Allison repeated.

Nathan saw what time it was and backed away from Allison. He picked up her bra off the floor and handed it to her and said, "I think you might need that."

"Why?" asked Allison.

"Because your final practice is in about five minutes," said Nathan.

Allison's eyes grew wide and she looked at the clock, "FRAK!"

Nathan back out of the way as Allison hurried to get dressed. She took off Nathan shirt and tossed it to him. She saw him looking at her and said, "Hey! Don't look."

"It's not like anything I haven't seen before," said Nathan.

"I don't care," said Allison as she put her bra back on. She opened her closet and said, "I don't know what outfit to wear."

"Why don't you wear the one you did yesterday?" asked Nathan, "It's already out."

"Good idea!" Allison said. She picked up her clothes from yesterday and put them back on. Allison ran to her bathroom, brushed her teeth and fixed her hair. She came out and asked, "How do I look?"

"I think I liked it better when you weren't dressed," said Nathan smiling.

"You are unbelievable!" snapped Allison.

"I'm just kidding, Ally. You look beautiful," said Nathan.

"Thank you," Allison smiled. She grabbed everything she needed and before she left, she kissed Nathan goodbye. Allison ran to the stage and was fifteen minutes late.

Her guitarist smiled when he saw her and said, "You really shouldn't have left your door unlocked. Maybe Nathaniel wouldn't have gotten in."

Allison swung around and asked, "How do you know that, Hanar?"

"You're in the same outfit as yesterday and you're late. Plus you only look that happy when you've seen Nathaniel," said Hanar, "I just put two and two together."

"Well you can stop adding now," said Allison.

Hanar's eyes filled with excitement and he asked, "You two frakked each other last night, didn't you?"

"That is none of you business," said Allison.

"You did frak," said Hanar, "Tell me about it. How did Nathan looked naked? I can only imagine."

"Oh my gods, Hanar," said Allison, "You are worse than the women in my band."

"Maybe," said Hanar.

"Yeah, maybe," said Allison, "The reason we don't have another man in the band is not because of him wanting to sleep with the women, but it's because you hit on all of them. By the way, Nathan is not gay."

Hanar shook his head, "Such a shame."

Allison looked at Hanar and said, "Oh my gods. Now stop talking. Let's get this practice underway."

"By your command," said Hanar.

"That's right. It is by my command," said Allison. She turned to the others and said, "Let's start with the introductory song 'Lords of Kobol'. Let's go people."

**Sagittaron**

Adonai walked into the lounge and saw a group of people playing cards around on of the tables. He didn't pay attention to them and went to a vending machine. He put a cubit in and got himself some chips. He heard a familiar female voice from the table say, "Full colors. I win."

Adonai turned around and walked towards the table and asked the woman, "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

The woman didn't look up and started to say, "Why don't you mind your own..." The woman then remembered Adonai's voice and she looked up. She smiled and jumped up from her seat. She ran to Adonai and hugged him. Then she punched him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"Why aren't you in school?" asked Adonai. He noticed what she was wearing and asked her, "What are you wearing? Go take that off and changed into something else less of that."

One of the men at the table stood up and asked, "Do you have a problem with the way Isabel dresses? She's fine the way she is. She's appealing in that."

"I know!" said Adonai, "That's the problem."

"She doesn't have to change her ways just because some holier-than-thou admiral wants her to," the man said.

"It's okay, Jason. This holier-than-thou admiral is my older brother and he is protective of me which is annoying," Isabel Adonai said.

"Oh, well, that's natural then," said Jason.

"So why are you here, Struchen?" asked Isabel.

"The Centarus is having maintenance done," said Struchen. He sat at the table with everyone else.

"What's the Centarus?" asked a woman at the table.

"The ship I command," said Adonai, "Deal me in."

"You're a colonial," said Jason, "You're not allowed to play."

"Gambling aboard colonial fleet shipyards is prohibited and that means you're not allowed to play either," Adonai reminded him, "The difference between you and me, though, is the fact that I have the power to arrest you."

"I'd like to see you try," said Jason. He was getting confrontational.

Adonai was relaxed and said, "You really, really don't want to get into a fight with me."

"Why is that?" asked Jason. He stood up and was walking over to Adonai.

"For one, I have colonial military training. Another thing, I might be able to take out you and few of your friends, if they get involved, but the rest of you might win. When that happens, do you really want to deal with the crew and personnel of my ship," said Adonai. He didn't raise his voice and was not getting hotheaded, unlike Jason.

"What ship do you command?" asked Jason. His arrogant, condescending appearance was a little shaken when he saw Isabel tense up and had a look of "you don't want to know" on her face.

"I command the Mercury class Battlestar Centarus. It has a crew of 2600 and most of them are still on the ship. How do you think they will feel when their commander was attacked by a hotheaded maniac for no reason," said Adonai with a smirk.

Jason's entire demeanor changed and he backed up to his seat. The man didn't say a word, but looked afraid of Adonai. He may have had a tiny fuse, but he knew when he was beat. The dealer then dealt Adonai in.

**Canceron**

A raptor jumped in orbit over Canceron and descended down to the planet's capital Hades. It flew to one of the richer suburbs of Hades and landed in front of two story house with as neatly cut green yard. The door to the raptor opened and Commander Persephone Johanson stepped out onto the raptor wing. She smiled and took in a sniff of air as her mind raced back to her childhood running and playing in this very yard. She stepped down off the raptor wing and the crewman tossed her bag to her. She caught it and the crewman shut the raptor door. Persephone put the bag over her shoulder and walked towards the door. She felt the wind and the noise of the raptor as it took off towards space.

Persephone looked at the tree that was in the yard. It was the Gemenese Birch her and her mom planted when she was only ten years old. She smiled at that memory. Gods it good to be home. She got up to the porch and knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and Persephone's mother, Amanda Kelner, was on the other side. She looked just like an older version of Persephone. Amanda put her hand over mouth and then hugged her daughter.

"Hello, Mom," said Persephone.

"Persephone, it's so good to see you. I didn't know you were here," said Amanda, "Come in."

Persephone picked up her bag and went inside the house. She put her bag down on the couch and asked, "Where's Brian at?"

"Your stepfather is at a business meeting on Caprica. He should be back in a few days," said Amanda, "My gods, it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Mom," said Perspehone. Persephone brought her bag to the guest bedroom that used to her bedroom. She unbuttoned her uniform and laid it on the bed. She came out in her colonial pants and undershirt. She walked back out into her living room and sat down on the couch. Her mom got her something to drink. Persephone saw that it was coffee and she said, "Thank you."

Her mom sat down in one of the chairs and asked her, "So what brought you here?"

"The Centarus has had some issues with a new program that was installed so we brought it in for repair at the Sagittaron shipyards. Adonai told me to go visit my family because we were going to be stationed there for several days. He's visiting his family at Sagittaron," explained Persephone.

"What's program is messing with the ship?" Amanda asked.

"Dr. Baltar's networking program. Ever since that was installed, the ship has been having malfunction after malfunction. Adonai's grown sick and tired of, and so have I. I think the whole ship's gotten tired of that program. It's not just the Centarus. A couple of her vipers lost power during a training exercise a month ago. That was the beginning of the whole thing. I bet you anything Adonai will take the system out of the viper and even the raptors."

"How long do you think it will take for your ship to be fixed?" asked Amanda.

"I don't know, but Adonai said he would jump over here when the ship was fixed and he'd better. I bought a couple tickets to a pyramid game. It took me forever to find good seats and it cost me several hundred cubits. Adonai and I are going to go when he gets here," Persephone told her mother.

"You spent several hundred cubits on a couple tickets?" asked her mother.

"Yes, Mom. I did," Persephone said, "It's a game between the Hades Vice and the Sagittaron Archers."

"Hope the game's good then when you two go," said Amanda, "And maybe then you two will finally become a couple."

Persephone choked on her coffee when she heard her mom say that. She looked at Amanda and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on. I bet your whole ship sees it except for you and him," said Amanda, "I see the way your eyes twinkle when you talk about him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Persephone. She nervously took a drink of her coffee.

"I think you do," said Amanda with a smile on her face.

**Sagittaron**

Adonai walked down a hallway of the Sagittaron shipyards with Isabel and he asked her, "Why are you running an illegal gambling ring here? I thought you were supposed to be going to college."

"I have to make money somehow. If you haven't noticed, we are from Sagittaron. We're not exactly rich, and the jobs down there aren't the best," said Isabel.

"You could have joined up with the colonials like I did," Adonai told his sister.

"No thanks," said Isabel, "That's one thing I don't ever want to do. I don't want to make my life a life about duty."

"It's not all about duty, Isabel," said Adonai.

"I know, but it's just not for me," said Isabel.

"Fair enough," said Adonai.

Isabel changed the subject and asked her older brother, "So are you and that Persephone a couple yet."

Adonai stopped and looked at her. He asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on," said Isabel.

"A blind man in a pitch black cave could tell that you are madly in love with Persephone," Isabel told him, "But you don't know it. How can someone as observant as you not know when they are in love with someone? I don't get that."

"I am not madly in love with Persephone," said Adonai.

"Oh, really? Why does your face light up and the very mention of her name?" asked Isabel, "If you are this bad at hiding your feelings for her, your whole ship knows you love her. Heck, she may love you too."

"I think I would know if I was madly in love with someone," said Adonai.

"Yeah, you'd think," said Isabel, "What will it take you to finally see it? The destruction of the Colonies?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. Like I said, I would know if I was in love," Adonai said.

"Whatever you say," said Isabel. She smiled and told her brother, "You are in so much denial. I can't tell if it's funny or pathetic."

"I can't tell if it's funny or pathetic," Adonai mocked.

Isabel looked at him and said, "That's mature."

The intercom came on and Parks could be heard over the speakers, "Admiral Struchen Adonai to Review Room 6."

"Looks like I got to go," said Adonai. Adonai turned and made his way towards Review Room 6.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Picon**

Allison Santorini's concert for the planet Picon was going as great as she had hoped. It was on her last song when something started to stir inside of her. It was a sense of fear and hopelessness. She could feel like something was coming, but she didn't know what it was. She finished her song and she left the stage. Allison walked backstage and down a hallway to her dressing room. She went into the dressing room and closed the door. She sat down on her bed and the feeling of hopelessness had returned.

There was a knock at her door and she got up to answer it. She opened her door and Nathan was standing outside. He looked at her and said, "Oh my gods, what's wrong?"

"Nothing why?" asked Allison.

"You look sick," said Nathan.

Allison motioned for him to come in and he did. Allison went and sat in one of her chairs and Nathan sat in another chair. She looked at him and said, "When I was doing my last song, I felt a sense of fear and hopelessness. I can't explain it. I felt like something bad was coming. Something that would change my life forever. I don't have any idea why I felt like that. Do you?"

Nathan looked at her and hesitated then he said, "I have no idea."

Allison looked at him and could tell that he wasn't being truthful. She asked him, "Are you lying to me?"

"No," said Nathan. His demeanor, however, was telling a different story.

"Then why are you acting like that?" asked Allison.

Nathan looked at her and said, "I've felt that too. It scared me and I came here."

"Why would you come here?" asked Allison.

Nathan told her, "I came here because I wanted to be with someone I love. When I see you, my world gets better and I wanted my world better."

Allison thought about that answer for a minute and accepted it to be true. She got up from her chair and kissed him. He didn't move. She was worried about him now that he had told her that he felt the same thing she felt. There was something that he wasn't telling her though, but she wasn't going to pursue it now. She told him, "I need to and take a shower. I'm all sweaty and dirty from the concert. You can join me if you want."

Nathan looked at her and said, "No, it's okay. I'll see you later. I need to get some rest. Now I'm the one not feeling good."

"Are you sure?" asked Allison.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Go and take a shower. I'll see you later," Nathan repeated.

"Okay. Go and get feeling better then," said Allison. She was worried about Nathan.

"I will," Nathan replied.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," said Allison. Allison kissed him goodbye and Nathan left the room.

Nathan got up and walked out into the hallway and he practically ran into his room onboard the ship. He got to his room and slammed the door shut. He leaned against it and said, "I can't do this. I can't. It's just not right. I have to tell her. I have to tell her the truth about me. I don't care if she won't believe me. She deserves to know, but then again it won't matter. So very soon nothing will matter anymore."

**Sagittaron**

Struchen Adonai walked to Review Room 6 and saw several technicians with Commander Joseph Parks with them. Parks saw Adonai and said, "Admiral Adonai, we've found the source of the problem with your ship."

"What is it?" asked Adonai.

"You were right. It was the networking program developed by Dr. Gaius Baltar. If you hadn't suggested that, it would have taken longer for us to find the problem."

"What was wrong with it?" asked Adonai.

"It was being interfered with by some outside source. We don't know where or what it is, but it seems that your ship is the only one being affected. We'll take the system out of the Centarus starting tomorrow," explained Parks as he handed Adonai a copy of the findings.

"What could interfere with an entire battlestar's system?" asked Adonai.

"I don't know, but I am going to alert the fleet headquarters on Picon," said Parks.

Adonai read over the findings and said, "Take the system out of my vipers as well and the raptors."

"That'll take a while," said Parks, "But I think we can get it done. At the best speed, it could take a week before all 250 vipers, 46 raptors and the Centarus to get purged of the program."

"I don't care, Commander Parks. I want my ship back in my control," said Adonai.

"Yes, Sir," said Parks.

"Thank you," said Adonai, "Purge one raptor first. I have to be at Canceron is few days and I'll jump there by raptor. After that, get the Centarus purged. Let me know when you get that raptor fixed."

"I will, Admiral," replied Parks.

"That's good to know," Adonai said. The two men shook hands and Adonai left Review Room 6.

**Canceron**

**9 Days Before the Fall**

Brianna Swanson was asleep in her seat onboard the Draconis as it entered Canceron's orbit. Conner Gailec was awake reading one of his books he had brought with him. He looked up from his book and out the window closest to him, he saw the Battlestar Byzantium. He could tell it was new by the sleekness of the ship. He had read that the ship had Dr. Baltar's new program, but it interfered with some of the ships systems in testing so they decided not to put it in the Byzantium. Gailec admired the sheer size of the Byzantium which was several times larger than the Draconis. Gailec didn't know why he was going to Canceron. The only reason he could think of was because he had never been on Canceron before. He thought it would be good to go and visit the colony, but there was something else pulling him towards Canceron. He didn't really believe in it but it felt like destiny.

Across the aisle, Brianna was waking up and she looked around. She saw a little glimpse of the ship outside. She stood up, stretched and looked out the glass wall that was in the cafeteria of the ship. She had never seen a battlestar in person before and it was intimidating. Looking at it she had a sense of pride that one of her family members was actually on that battlestar.

"Impressive isn't it?" asked a familiar voice behind her.

Brianna froze and turned around. She saw Brie standing there and asked, "What do you want?"

"To apologize for earlier," said Brie. She seemed more friendly this time as she continued, "I don't know what had gotten over me."

Brianna was willing to talk to Brie if she was going to be like this. Brie walked up to the window and looked outside. Brianna turned around and looked out the window too. Brianna said, "I've never seen a battlestar in person before."

"I have," said Brie, "Twice actually."

"Which ones?" asked Brianna.

"The Battlestar Galactica and the decommissioned Battlestar Pacifica, but I never seen a Mercury class. Those other two are only half the size of that battlestar," said Brie, "What battlestar is that one?"

"The Byzantium," said Brianna, "It's the newest one built. It's fully equipped with everything a battlestar needs. It has a networking program that links all the ship's systems together to make it easier."  
Brie smirked when Brianna spoke of the networking program. Brie said, "How do you think that ship would do in a fight?"

"I don't know," said Brianna, "Why do you want to know?"

"No reason," said Brie. The Draconis got closer and closer to the Byzantium and the battlestar's size was unbelievable at close range.

"You said you were on the Galactica?" asked Brianna.

"Yes, why?" asked Brie.

"How? That ship will be decommissioned in nine days. How did you get onboard?" asked Brianna.

"My little secret," Brie told her.

The pilot came back on over the intercom and said, "Attention passengers, we will begin landing processes in a few minutes. Take your seats and buckle up. We will be landing in the Hades Interplanetary Airport within the hour."

"Looks like we have to sit down," said Brie. Brie apologized again and went back to her section. Brianna stayed for a couple more minutes before she walked back to her seat and buckled in.

The Draconis made its descent to the planet below.

**Sagittaron**

"Admiral," said Parks to Adonai in one of the hallways leading to the raptor that had the program taken out of it.

Adonai turned around and said, "Yes?"

"We have taken the system out of the Centarus herself and we are now starting with the vipers and the rest of the raptors. I just wanted to let you know that the Centarus is free before you left to got to Canceron," Parks explained.

"Thank you," said Adonai, "You caught me just in time. I was heading down the raptor."

"You're welcome," Parks said, "We will let you know when the other ships are done."

The two shook hands and Adonai made his way to the raptor. He stepped up onto the wing and then into the ship itself. He shut the door and ordered the pilot to procede. The pilot lifted the raptor out of the hanger bay and flew the bird into space. Once the ship was free of the shipyards, the raptor jumped.

**Canceron**

The raptor jumped in orbit around Canceron and Adonai told the pilot where he was going to be dropped off. The raptor flew and landed in front of Persephone's parent's home. The admiral opened the door and stepped out onto the wing carrying his bag. He told the pilot to take a few days off before reporting back to the Centarus. The pilot thanked him and flew the bird away when Adonai was out of the way.

Adonai walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. The door opened and Amanda Kelner asked, "Yes?"

Adonai was floored at her appearance. She looked just like an older version of Persephone. He asked her anyway, "Are you Amanda Kelner?"

"Yes, why?" asked Amanda.

"I just wanted to make sure I had the right house. I'm Persephone's friend," said Adonai, "I'm Struchen Adonai."

Amanda smiled and said, "She's told me about you. Come on in."

Struchen came inside and said, "I hope she told you good things about me."

"She has," said Amanda. Amanda walked out of the living room and knocked on Persephone's door.

Persephone opened the door. She was in gray sweatpants and a pink tank top. She had a hat on and had on slippers that resembled crabs. She and asked, "What is it?"

"The love of your life is here," said Amanda.

"What are you talking about?" asked Persephone.

"Struchen Adonai is out there," said Amanda.

Persephone's eyes widened and she said, "Crap! I forgot he was coming today."

"Seph," said Amanda, "He's off duty and so are you. Try to relax around him. Okay?"

Persephone nodded and said, "I'll try. And he is not the love of my life."

"You're my daughter and I love you, but you are in some serious denial here," said Amanda.

"I'm not in denial," said Persephone.

"Sure," said Amanda, "Don't keep the man waiting."

Persephone stepped out in what she was wearing and saw Adonai standing in the living room in his admiral uniform. He looked at her and smiled. He saw her slippers and he asked, "Are those crab slippers?"

"Maybe. Why?" asked Persephone.

"I've never seen crab slippers," said Adonai, "They look weird, but they're yours and not mine."

"That's right," said Persephone.

The two of them stood awkwardly in silence for and bit. No one knew what to say until Amanda came in and said, "What do you guys want to eat?"

The two looked at her and she could tell what had just happened. She smiled and said, "Just let me know. I'll be in the kitchen."

Amanda went back into the kitchen and Adonai told Persephone, "You look good."

"I look like I just rolled out of bed," Persephone smiled.

"Yeah, you do," Adonai nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Struchen Adonai was sitting at the table in the Kelner's dining room during the Canceron night. He was reading a newspaper called the Canceron Inquirer. He read about the Byzantium's official commissioning a week away and the decommissioning of the Battlestar Galactica nine days away. He was going to be listening to Commander Adama give the decommissioning speech when that day came.

Adonai finished reading and put the paper down on the table. He pushed himself away from the table and stood up. He stretched his muscles out and walked outside. He walked into the yard and laid down on the grass. The cool night air of Canceron was perfect for Adonai as he looked up at the stars above the planet. He tried to locate the constellations that he knew, but it was impossible. He was on another planet. The night sky was completely different.

Adonai laid there for a while before he saw Persephone standing over him. He looked at her with the stars behind her. Her hair was let down and rolled over her shoulders. She was in a light pink robe, bare foot and she had her arms crossed. She looked at him and asked, "Admiral, is everything alright?"

Adonai sat up and said, "Persephone, we're off duty. You can me Struchen."

"I know, but it's weird," said Persephone. She sat down on the ground next to him, and looked up at the sky. She asked, "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing," said Adonai. He laid back down on the ground and Persephone did too. He told her, "I used to do this all the time back home when I was a kid and teenager. We didn't really have anything else to do."

"You didn't go out with your friends anywhere?" asked Persephone.

"Where would we go? There was no where to go that was legal and safe. Sagittaron is the poorest of the poor. We did what we could with what we had and that was very little. So I spent most of my nights looking at the stars and hoping, one day, that I would leave my wretched world behind me. I always wanted to free myself from all the religion, mysticism, anti-medicine and violence behind," Adonai explained, "I would always look up at those stars and wish for that day to come. Then it did and now I'm here."

"Did you look at the stars every night?" asked Persphone.

"Yes," said Adonai, "I learned all the locations of the twelve constellations that our Colonies were named after."

"The Colonies were named after constellations?" asked Persephone.

"Yes," Adonai told her, "They were Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. All those constellations could be seen from the night skies on Kobol because they were the brightest."

"Kobol?" asked Persephone, "That's the first world isn't it."

"Yes," said Adonai, "I thought everyone knew that."

"My family has never owned the Sacred Scrolls," Persephone said.

"Being from Sagittaron meant that everyone in the household had a copy. My people took religion very seriously, probably second only to Gemenon, but I no luck there," Adonai said.

"What do you mean?" asked Persephone.

"My parents were both Gemenese," said Adonai, "So both the religiousness of those two Colonies were piled on me. My sister takes the religion far more serious than me. When it comes to religion, my views are more Caprican than anything else."

"So you're not strong on religion?" asked Persephone.

"No," said Adonai, "I just believe there is something or somethings out there. How else could the colonists of Kobol have found a triple star system with twelve habitable worlds."

"Where is Kobol?" asked Persephone.

"I don't know," said Adonai, "That planet's location isn't described in the Scrolls, but a thirteenth colony is described."

"There's another colony?" asked Persephone.

"Yes, but you are going to have to get yourself a copy of the Sacred Scrolls and read about it yourself. That's a homework assignment for you," said Adonai.

"I'll get on that," said Persephone. She wasn't going to ask again about the thirteenth colony. The two of them looked up at the stars in silence for a while before Persephone said, "I've never done this before."

Adonai asked her, "Do you like it?"

"I could get used to it," said Persephone.

Adonai looked over at Persephone. She looked at him and Adonai said, "It's beautiful."

The two of them locked eyes for a few seconds before they both smiled and looked back up at the sky.

**Battlestar Byzantium**

A raptor flew into starboard flight deck. The raptor landed and was taken down to the crews. The raptor wing opened and Gerald and Jennifer Bhuta stepped out of raptor. Gerald looked up and saw his brother, Michael standing there. Both of them smiled and gave each other a big bear hug. Michael said, "It's good to see you brother."

"You too, Michael," said Gerald.

Michael looked over and said, "You must be Jennifer. Gerald's told me about you."

"Yes," said Jennifer.

Michael turned back to Gerald and said, "You're early. The commissioning is a week away."

"I know, but there is something we need to tell you," said Gerald, "In private."

"Why?" asked Michael.

"Because I don't know that much about anyone here," said Gerald.

"Fair point," said Michael.

Back in Commander Michael Bhuta's quarters, Gerald and Jennifer told him that he was going to be an uncle. Michael told them, "Congratulations you two."

"Thank you," smiled Jennifer

**Battlestar Byzantium**

**6** **Days Before the Fall**

Jeremiah "War Crime" Swanson walked down to the starboard hanger deck of the Byzantium when he heard a transport had come onboard with his sister, Christina, and his cousin, Brianna onboard. He walked up to the raptor that the fleet had let them borrow. The door opened and the two women stepped out of the ship and onto the raptor's wing. A couple of soldiers helped them down to the ground. Jeremiah greeted them by saying, "Welcome aboard the Byzantium."

Brianna looked around and saw the whole deck was massive. It was over half the size of the Draconis. She said, "This place is huge."

"I know," said War Crime, "And see all those vipers over there."

"Yeah," said Christina, "What about them?"

"I am the CAG!" said War Crime.

"What? That's great!" said Christina.

"Found out this morning actually," said War Crime, "Now, I would like to talk except I have to get out of here and plan the flyby for the commissioning which should have been a few months ago, but until then Commander Bhuta has given you access to the ship."

"We don't know where anything is," said Brianna.

"You're right," said War Crime. He turned to one of the deck hands and said, "You be their guide. Take them to the visitor's quarters."

War Crime walked off and the crew member took the two women towards the place War Crime told him to take them.

**Hades, Canceron**

**Hades Arena**

Adonai and Persephone walked towards their seats in the Hades Arena for the Vice-Archers pyramid game. They found their seats when a red headed woman bumped into Persephone and nearly made her drop everything she was carrying. Persephone looked up at the woman and she recognized her instantly, "Danielle!"

The red headed woman saw Persephone and yelled, "Persephone!"

Persephone set her stuff down in her seat and hugged Danielle. She said, "It's been so long. How have you been?"

"I've been good," said Danielle.

Adonai cut in and asked, "Should I leave and let you two catch up?"

Persephone turned to him and said, "No. You can stay. This is my old friend Danielle. I've known her since the days I was a famous singer back in my teens before I joined the colonials."

Adonai looked at Persephone and raised his eyebrow, "You were a famous singer? How come I didn't know about htis?"

"I never thought it was important," said Persephone.

"That's fine," said Adonai. He sat down in his seat, "How famous were you?"

"She was famous on several worlds," said Danielle, "Unlike her childhood friend Allison Santorini who is famous on all 12 Colonies."

"Thanks for that, Danielle," said Persephone.

"I'm sorry," Danielle put her head down.

Persephone put her hands on Danielle's shoulders and said, "Don't do that. I was kidding. I couldn't be any happier in my life right now. I am the executive officer on one the fleet's most powerful ships and I have the best commanding officer the fleet can offer."

"Who's your CO?" asked Danielle.

Adonai smiled and waved, "That'd be me."

"You're dating your commanding officer?" asked Danielle.

Adonai stopped eating his popcorn and looked at the two women. Persephone sat down and looked at Adonai smiling, "Maybe I am."

Adonai looked at Persephone and smiled back at her. Danielle saw them and said, "Wow you two are hilarious."

"What does that mean?" asked Adonai.

"It means it's so funny you two have feelings for each other and they are so blatant everyone can see them except yourselves," Danielle said, "But from this little 'date' you both are starting to realize it."

Danielle sat in the seat next to Persephone on her right. Someone walked up and told Danielle, "You're in my seat."

Danielle said, "I know. Take my seat instead. Here's the location."

The man took the paper Danielle gave him and saw that it was a seat closer to the field and he ran off with it before Danielle changed her mind. Danielle turned back to her friend and asked, "So who are you going for in this game?"

"I'm going for the home team and Adonai is going for the Archers," Persephone said, "He's Sagittaron."

Danielle gave a look of sympathy and said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Adonai said, "I was happy and now I'm living the life I always wanted to."

"That's good," said Danielle.

After half an hour, the pyramid game started and from one of the luxury boxes at the top of the arena, Brie was looking down at the players and said, "Look at them running around like animals."

"That's what they are," said a woman who was identical to Brie.

Brie nodded and said, "That they are, Sister Brie."

"Soon they will all be gone," said the Second Brie, "Soon their worlds will burn and crumble beneath our feet."

"Less than a week away," said the First Brie, "I will miss this one woman though. I think her name was Brianna. She was a nice woman and very attractive at that. I would frak her if I could."

"That was unnecessary," said a third Brie who was sitting in one of the chairs.

"She's right, Brie," the Second Brie said, "Why are you attracted to human females? The others of our model are attracted to their males."

"I don't know," said the First Brie, "Their are humans who feels the same way. They are attracted and prefer their same gender over the opposite one. It's a fact of their biological makeup. There will be those anomalies, but in the end it doesn't really matter. They are all the same. They're all human. Same with us. I am an anomaly of the Sixes, but I am still a Six or a Brie depending on what you want to call us."

"So what are you going to do in these next six days?" asked the Third Brie.

"I'll try and win over Brianna," said the First Brie.

"You only met her on the way over here," the Second Brie said, "Let her go."

"I'll let her go when the sky starts to fall," said the First Brie, "I will snap her neck and kill her before she has to suffer the blast of a nuclear explosion."

"You care for her and you hardly know her," said the Second Brie.

"So what? What does that make me?" asked the First Brie.

"It makes you more human," said the Third Brie, "And it makes you a liability. If you don't stop, you'll be boxed."

"I'll take that chance," said the First Brie.

"That's a slippery slope, Sister," said the Second Brie.

"I'll take that chance," repeated the First Brie.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The pyramid game ended with a 35-17 Archers victory over the Vice. Adonai, Persephone and Danielle went back to the Kelner's home. The three of them got to the house when Adonai had to take a message. He told the other two, "Go on. I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?" asked Persephone.

"Yes, I'm sure," Adonai said. He stood in the yard as the other two went into the house. He answered the call and said, "This is Admiral Struchen Adonai...Yes, I'm in the Colonies. Why?...I can't take my battlestar. The Centarus is in for some repairs...Don't worry. I'll catch a ride there myself. I'll probably use a raptor and jump there...Okay I'll be there tomorrow."

"What is it?" asked Perspehone.

Adonai turned around and said, "I thought you went inside."

"No, I waited out here. So what's going on?" asked Persephone.

"I don't know, but I've got to go to Picon. All the admirals of the fleet are meeting at fleet headquarters," said Adonai. He sounded worried.

"Why?" asked Persephone.

"I don't know, but they told me it was urgent that I get there as soon as possible," said Adonai, "They've never done this before. I don't know what's going on. Persephone, I've got to go."

"When do you think you'll be back?" asked Persephone.

"I don't know," Adonai told her. He went inside the house and ignored everyone when he went to pack his things. He walked back into the living room and saw Amanda, Danielle and Persephone in the room. He told them, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Whatever it is, it's urgent or they wouldn't have called me."

Adonai called the raptor that dropped him off and a couple hours later, he boarded the ship.

**Picon**

**Colonial Fleet Headquarters**

**5 Days Before the Fall**

Adonai walked into a large lounge area of the fleet headquarters and saw about two dozen admirals and the Fleet Admiral Hector Quitaro. Adonai walked and leaned on a fireplace that was in the room. A woman walked up next to Adonai. She was shorter than Adonai and had her dark blonde in a ponytail. She leaned on the fireplace next to him. She held out her hand and said, "Admiral Tamara Alexandria, Battlestar Huntress."

Adonai looked at her and shook her hand replying, "Admiral Struchen Adonai, Battlestar Centarus."

"So why do you think we're here for, Adonai?" asked Alexandria.

"I don't know," said Adonai, "I got a message to come here last night."  
"I got the same one earlier today," said Alexandria, "Luckily I was docked in right outside in the hangers right outside this building. I was already here for a meeting for my battlestar group, BSG 54."

"I was on Canceron with my XO on leave while my ship was being repaired at the Sagittaron shipyards," Adonai said.

Alexandria was about to reply when Quitaro shouted, "OKAY LET'S GET THIS THING STARTED."

**Canceron**

Danielle was sitting in an outdoor cafe in one of the wealthier parts of Hades with Persephone. The two of them were talking about everything. They hadn't seen each other in the last three years. Danielle asked, "So how's life onboard a battlestar?"

"Different but I love it," said Persephone, "Something happened about two years ago that still effects me today but other than that, it's great."

"What happened?" asked Danielle.

Persephone swallowed hard and answered, "I'd rather not talk about that."

Danielle saw the hurt in Persephone's eyes and she didn't pursue the subject. She changed the subject and said, "I've always wondered why you gave up you music career. It was on the way to being a huge success in all the Colonies. Why did you do it?"

Persephone stirred her coffee as she spoke, "I don't really know. One day I decided that being in that industry wasn't for me. I wanted to so much more and only the Colonial Forces came to mind. So I signed up and that's that. Right after that I was stationed on the Battlestar Uned. After that I worked my way to the Battlestar Athena, Battlestar Valkyrie, and now I'm the Battlestar Centarus."

Danielle thought about it and asked, "You're a commander, aren't you?"

"Yes. Why?" asked Persephone.

"Why don't you have your own battlestar yet?" asked Danielle as the waiter brought them their food.

They both thanked the waiter and when he left Persephone answered, "I don't feel like I'm ready. I want a command, but I think it's too early in my career. I shot up the ranks fast, but that doesn't mean I am mentally ready for a command like that. I'm perfectly happy at being the executive officer of the Centarus for now. When the time comes for me to command a battlestar, I'll do it."

After a few minutes, Persephone asked Danielle, "So what have you been up to the last three years."

"A lot of things," said Danielle, "Right now I am work at the Hades Provincial Library."

"Really?" asked Persephone, "I thought someone as smart as you would have huge success."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't seem to have the patience to apply myself," said Danielle, "I've been working on it. I'm enrolled in the University of Canceron for next semester. I was able to get a scholarship and I decided to do what I didn't when I was younger."

"That's good," said Persephone. The two of them continued to eat and talk amongst each other.

**Picon**

All the admirals were sitting a massive circular table with a holographic projection of the Twelve Colonies was shown. Fleet Admiral Quitaro started the meeting by saying, "Thank you all for coming. We are actually a couple admirals short. Admiral Helena Cain and Admiral Rumi Omanan couldn't make it. Let's get started on why we're here. Chris?"

Admiral Christopher Nagala stood up and said, "We have been monitoring the space around the Armistice Line and over the last few weeks we have had several weird things happen. Ships jump in and out all along the Line and from what we can tell they are mobilizing for something."

"Who's mobilizing?" one of the admirals asked.

"The Cylons," Adonai said, "Who else?"

"That's correct," said Nagala, "We're not sure what they are doing, but we send our annual officer in five days to the Armistice Station. The Cylons may send a representative this time to explain what's going on."

"You actually believe that?" asked Adonai, "You think the Cylons would send someone considering they haven't in over forty years. I don't see why they would now."

"I agree," said Alexandria, "And if the Cylons are mobilizing, we should be ready and get our defenses up. They could be mobilizing for an attack."

"I doubt that," said another admiral.

"We can't know that for sure. We haven't heard or seen a Cylon since the war ended over four decades ago. They could have been using that time to build up a war machine and now they're big enough to launch an attack against us," Alexandria said.

"We don't believe that to be true," said Admiral Quitaro.

"With all do respect Fleet Admiral Quitaro, but why else would they be doing that. You know how much they hate up," said Alexandria, "They tried to kill us all when they first rebelled."

"We've left them alone since the Armistice was declared," said Quitaro, "And they have done the same."

"Until recently," said Alexandria, "Those ships could be scouts or just antsy Cylons waiting for battle."

"You don't know that," said Nagala.

"You don't know otherwise!" Alexandria snapped.

"Admirals! Stop!" shouted Quitaro, "The truth is we don't know what the Cylons are up to and the best thing we can do is just be on alert and not let our guard down."  
"Agreed," one the admirals said.

"Thank you," Quitaro said, "But we should be safe other than sorry. If we are attacked and we lose the war, there is a place we can go to. It's a world a few dozen jumps away from this system. The planet is Kobol."

"Kobol? The birthplace of humanity?" asked Adonai.

"The one and the only," said Quitaro, "I am going to give the coordinates to that planet. Your orders are to go to Kobol if the Cylons do attack and the worlds are beyond saving. That's the worst case scenario and it will never happen, but if it does those are your orders."

"Why don't the other ship commanders know?" asked Alexandria.

"She's got a point, Fleet Admiral," Adonai agreed.

"We don't want to cause a panic and have every ship commander out there trigger happy and ready to fire on an unidentified ship thinking they are the long forsaken Cylons," Quitaro said.

"I still think it would be best to tell the other commanders and not just us," said Adonai, "It would let all the fleet know about the activity behind the Armistice Line."

"I'll take that point into consideration," said Quitaro, "If you want to tell your ships in your battlestar group, then you can. All three of them."

"What do you mean all three of them? BSG 17 only has three ships: Centarus, Hera and Uned," Adonai told Quitaro.

"Byzantium is going to join your battlestar group after its commissioning," said Quitaro, "But back to the point of this whole meeting."

"The point of which I don't see," Alexandria said, "You could have wired that to all of us instead of calling all of us here. Unless there is more to all of this than you are letting on. Is there more, Fleet Admiral Quitaro?"

Quitaro glared at Alexandria and replied, "Yes, there is more."

"What is it?" asked Adonai.

"I think Admirals Quitaro and Nagala aren't telling us the whole truth," said Alexandria, "They know something we don't."

"Alexandria, that is enough!" snapped Nagala.

"Nagala," Quitaro said, "It's time they know. We could have actually started this. Remember?"

"Remember what?" asked Alexandria.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Canceron**

**4 Days Before the Fall**

"FRAK!" shouted Adonai as his raptor jumped into orbit around Canceron and nearly collided with a massive domed ship the size of a battlestar. He jumped into the copilot's seat as the pilot was able to gain control of the raptor. Adonai asked himself, "What the hell is that ship?"

"It's the Concert Orbiter," said the pilot.

"Why in the gods names is it in the military portion of Canceron?" asked Adonai.

"I don't know, but there is a concert being played in few days," said the pilot.

"How do you know that?" asked Adonai.

"I always check to see what ships are going to be around the planet I'm staying on. It's just something that I do," said the pilot.

As the raptor moved past the ship, Adonai then took in the immense size of the Concert Orbiter. It was slightly smaller than the Centarus itself. He thought about it and decided that the reason the Concert Orbiter had jumped into the military portion was because of the size. The civilian parts around Canceron were packed the Orbiter would just cause havoc. The military part was less used and more empty that the civilian and had the room for the Orbiter. Adonai just hoped that the Cylons didn't attack because the Orbiter would be in the crossfire between the battlestars and basestars.

The raptor flew down and landed in front of Persephone's house. He stepped out and walked up to the door. He knocked on the door and Persephone opened the door. She said, "Back already."

"We need to talk," said Adonai, "The Admiralty told us something that I think you should know."

"What about?" asked Persephone as both of them walked into the house. She shut the door and Adonai put his bag down on the couch.

"The Cylons," said Adonai.

**Concert Orbiter**

Allison Santorini was preparing for her fourth concert, but during the course of the last week she had noticed that Nathan Graystone was acting strange and nervous. He was acting very different and she didn't know why. She had asked others about it, but they hadn't noticed anything. She was starting to wonder why he was only like that around her. She demanded answers, but he kept telling her everything was fine and he was just sick. She didn't believe him, but there was nothing more she could really do.

After everything was set up, Allison walked up to Hanar and asked, "Do you think there is anything wrong with Nathan?"

Hanar was the one who always talked to her and was the one who she could air her problems with. Hanar didn't answer right off and just kept staring out the window that was behind the stage. He stared down at the planet below and jumped when Allison touched him on the shoulder. He asked, "Did you say something?"

"I was wondering if you had seen anything different about Nathan for the past few days," Allison said.

"No, I haven't," said Hanar, "I haven't seen him except maybe once since he's been here and that was when he first got here. He seemed like his normal self."

Allison knew that was probably true. Nathan did avoid the band most of the time and spent his time in the rooms or leisure spots of the Orbiter. Allison told him, "If you do see him, can you see if anything is different about him. I'd like to know. He's keeping a secret from me and whenever he sees me, he gets nervous and tries to avoid me. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure," said Hanar.

Hanar's eyes didn't break from the planet and Allison saw that. Before she left, she asked, "Is everything alright?"

Hanar looked at her and smiled, "Everything's fine. I just haven't seen a view of a planet like this before. The other three planets were amazing, but this view of Canceron is unlike anything I've seen before."

"Is that it?" asked Allison.

"That's it," said Hanar.

Allison walked off and Hanar turned around. He saw the Nathan glaring at him from one of the entrances to the auditorium. Hanar saw a raging hate in Nathan's eyes although Nathan was several hundred feet away. Hanar turned his head and looked back again. Nathan had gone when Hanar looked back at the doorway. He didn't know what to think about that. Why did Nathan looked directly at him and no one else?

**Canceron**

Persephone was sitting in a chair and asked, "Do you think the Admiralty wanted to jumpstart a war with the Cylons?"

"I don't know," said Adonai. He was sitting on the couch next to his bag and was still in full admiral uniform. He continued by saying, "Sending a battlestar that close to the Armistice Line and launching a stealth ship into Cylon space is just asking for trouble. Now with recorded activity behind the Line, they told us to be cautious."

"In case of what?" asked Persephone, "An attack on the Colonies?"

"Gods I hope not," Adonai said, "The first war with the Cylons was devastating enough according to the history books."

The front door to the Kelners' home opened and Amanda walked in carrying a bag. Someone followed her in and when Persephone saw him and said, "Hello, Brian."

Brian Kelner looked at his stepdaughter and said, "I didn't know you were on leave, Persephone."

Adonai stood up and said, "That's because of me. The Centarus had to be repaired."

Brian looked at Adonai and asked, "And you are?"

"Admiral Struchen Adonai. Commanding officer of the Battlestar Centarus. Your stepdaughter is my executive officer."

Brian looked at the pins on Adonai's neck and said, "Admiral stars. So you are an admiral. What's so important that your on Canceron talking to Persephone on her leave time?"

"I was actually staying here until the repairs are completed on the Centarus," said Adonai, "I'm not on good terms with my family other than my younger sister. They shunned me after I joined up with the Colonials," said Adonai.

Brian sat his stuff down next to a closet door and sat down in one of the other chairs and asked, "If you're on leave too, why are you wearing your uniform?"

"I just got back from a meeting on Picon with the other fleet admirals. It seems there is some activity around the Armistice Line," said Adonai.

"Who's getting too close to the Armistice Line? I bet its some miners," said Brian.

"Actually that is what I was telling Persephone. The activity is not coming from our side of the Line. It's coming from the Cylon's side of the Line," Adonai clarified.

"There hasn't been activity on that side of the Line in over forty years. Why are the Cylons suddenly active?" asked Brian.

"We don't know," said Adonai, "But I've been told to watch out for anything in case the Cylons break the Armistice."

Brian shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He thought for a moment and said, "I hope not. I was there during the Cylon War."

"You were?" asked Persephone, "You never told me. What happened?"

"I was about ten when the whole thing ended. I was actually running from a platoon of Cylons with my a large group who escape a Cylon bombing on Tauron. I can remember that to this day. The screams and echoes of the dying. The blood and body part all over the place. The sounds of gunfire and explosions tearing throughout the day. Dust and debris were everywhere and I can sometimes still smell the smell of gunpowder and death. I could hear the squealing of the bullets as they flew past me. I didn't get shot, but my mother wasn't as fortunate. A bullet tore through her neck and she died instantly. The entire group got cornered when several Cylon raiders blocked our paths. The Centurions were coming up behind us and I just knew we were finished, but then they all stopped and went back. The raiders left and the Centurions vanished. I never saw another Cylon after that and haven't yet."

"I never knew that," said Persephone.

"I never really had time to tell you," said Brian, "I hope that the Cylons don't come back. We barely survived the last time."

**Sagittaron**

**3 Days Before the Fall**

A raptor jumped in orbit of Sagittaron and landed at the Sagittaron Shipyards. Adonai stepped out of the raptor and walked down towards a corridor. He walked out into it and was met by a Commander Joseph Parks. Adonai asked, "So everything's done?"

"Yes, Sir," said Parks as the two of them walked down towards the hard seal between the Centarus and the shipyards. Parks went on, "At your request, we took out the networking program out of everything. Your crew is all back onboard and all that they need is you to go and take command of the ship again."

"Thank you," said Adonai. He signed his name on all the forms that were needed for the Centarus to depart from the shipyards. Adonai looked at the door and said, "We will leave tomorrow after the commissioning of the Battlestar Byzantium. I hope that's alright."

"That's perfectly fine," said Parks, "To be honest, you are the first battlestar we have done in over a year. Most of the fleet avoids us because of the planet we orbit."

"Ages old prejudices just don't seem to go away," Adonai said, "Unfortunately Sagittarons bear the brunt of most of them."

"I know what you mean," said Parks, "I'm just glad you gave us work to do."

"My pleasure," Adonai said. He held out his hand and said, "I'll be seeing you around, Commander."

Parks shook Adonai's hand and said, "You too, Admiral. Good hunting."

"Thank you," said Adonai. He opened the door to the Centarus and walked inside and latched the door behind him. The raptor that took him had left and flew into the Centarus's starboard flight pod along with all of his stuff. Adonai walked towards the CIC to see what they had done to his ship. He was going to go and pick up Persephone in a couple of days off of Canceron. Until then, he was going to get back to his duties onboard the Centarus.

**Canceron**

**2 Days Before the Fall**

Christina Swanson, Brianna Swanson, Jeremiah Swanson, Conner Gailec, Gerald Bhuta and Jennifer Bhuta were all in the audience as the Byzantium's commander, Commander Michael Bhuta was giving his commissioning speech the whole ship. It seemed liked a generic speech about a new ship being commissioned, but with a different taste to it and a different voice. When Commander Bhuta was finished, his XO, Jetz Creole, stepped up and said, "Everyone give Commander Michael Bhuta a hand on the newly commissioned Battlestar Byzantium."

The audience applauded and when everyone was dimissed, the soldiers on the ship gave all the visitors the raptor number they would be departing in during the next few days. Christina, Brianna, Conner, Gerald, and Jennifer all had Raptor Flight 62 and were departing in two days from the ship. They would go down to the planet and then go their separate ways.

**Sagittaron**

Adonai had the commissioning speech playing over all the ship, and when it was over, Adonai ordered, "Let's break hard seal and get to Canceron."

"Yes, Sir," said one of the specialists.

The Centarus broke hard seal with the Sagittaron shipyards and cleared the shipyards completely before flying towards Canceron. It would be 36 hour flight to get to Canceron, but the Centarus was in no hurry.

**Canceron**

**Concert Orbiter**

**1 Day Before the Fall**

Nathan Graystone was walking down one of the halls in the Concert Orbiter deep in his thoughts when he ran into Hanar and nearly knocked each other over. He glared at Hanar with so much contempt. Hanar didn't see Nathan's look and said, "I'm so sorry, Nathan. I didn't see you there."

"Frak you, Hanar," spat Nathan.

Hanar was taken aback and said, "Calm down. I didn't see you that's all. I didn't do anything."

"You didn't do anything!" growled Nathan, "You did plenty."

"What are you talking about?" asked Hanar.

Nathan grabbed Hanars sweater and pushed him into the wall. Nathan got his glaring face close and then Hanar saw all the hatred Nathan had in his eyes as Nathan told him, "Just frak off. I don't need to see your face anymore."

Hanar didn't know how to respond and was silent. After a few seconds, Nathan let go and continued on his way. Hanar was shell shocked and looked in the direction that Nathan walked off and said, "What was that all about?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Canceron**

**Concert Orbiter**

**The Day of the Fall**

Allison had given her concert the night before and was resting quietly in her dressing room's bed. Hanar had told her about Nathan's outburst that day and she talked to Nathan about it. He was stressed like she had never seen him and asked him if he was alright, but all Nathan told her was that he wasn't feeling good. That was always his excuse, but after actually seeing him like he was yesterday, she was more inclined to believe him. She knew, however, that there was something else. There was something that he was not telling her.

She continued to lay there when a feeling of loneliness and intense hopelessness overwhelmed her. She felt her stomach twist and turn. She sat up in her bed and the whole room started spinning. She got up and ran to the bathroom and puked her guts up in the toilet. After her stomach had been emptied, she went to the sink and washed her mouth out. She saw her reflection and she looked like total crap. She whispered to herself, "Something's coming. I can sense it."

In Nathan's room, Nathan was sitting in the fetal position in a corner of his bedroom shaking and crying his eyes out as he kept chanting, "Today is the day. Today is the day it all falls down."

Hanar was sitting a chair in his dressing room. He stared at his reflection with a smile etched on his face.

**Centarus**

Adonai was standing in the CIC when Persephone came in dressed in her uniform again. Adonai said, "Good to see you again, Commander."

"Good to be here," said Persephone.

"And your just in time," said Adonai.

"For what?" asked Persephone.

"For Commander Adama's decommissioning speech for the Battlestar Galactica. It's being broadcast throughout all the 12 Worlds. The Galactica is a legend," said Adonai.

"You got that right," said Danielle as she walked into the CIC.

"Danielle, what are you doing here?" asked Adonai.

"I brought her along," said Persephone, "We didn't see each other as much as I would have like after we met on Canceron. I brought her onboard so we can catch up later."

"Just don't touch anything," said Adonai.

"Telling people what to do, just like always," a familiar voice said from behind Adonai.

Adonai turned and said, "Isabel, did you stowaway on my ship?"

Adonai's little sister was standing in one of the CIC's doorways and said, "Maybe."

"At least Danielle had permission," said Adonai, "And you definitely do not touch anything. I don't want the Centarus broken."

Isabel smiled.

The radio crackled and a man's voice went all over the ship. The decommissioning of the Galactica had started. Adonai heard the man say over the radio, "I give you the last commander of the Battlestar Galactica, Commander William Adama."

They all heard the applause over the speakers. Then they heard Adama say, "The cost of wearing the uniform is high."

Adama stopped mid sentence and there was a pause. Persephone asked, "What's he doing?"

"I think he's about to go off script," said Adonai.

Then Adama's voice came back on over the speakers, "But sometimes it's too high. When we fought the Cylons, we did it to save ourselves from extinction, but we never answered the question why. Why are we as a people worth saving? We still commit murder because of greed, spite, jealousy. And we still visit all of our sins upon our children. We refuse to take responsibility for anything that we've done. Like we did with the Cylons. We decided to play God. Create life. And when that life turned against us, we comforted ourselves in the knowledge that it wasn't our fault. No, not really. You cannot play God and wash your hands of the things that you've created because sooner or later, the day comes when you can't hide from the things that you've done anymore."

There was silence for a few seconds before applause came over the speakers.

"I think he was went way off script for that," said Persephone.

"I do too, but that was a good speech nonetheless," said Adonai.

"Yeah," said Persephone. After a moment, Persephone said, "Oh, yes, Adonai, I also brought my parents onboard. I don't know why, but I had a bad feeling in my gut and I wanted them to come aboard and be safe. I didn't feel comfortable just leaving them there."

"That's fine," said Adonai, "I kinda felt something like that too when I woke up."

**Concert Orbiter**

Nathan walked out of his room and he had regained himself. He walked towards Allison's room and knocked on the door. He waited for a few minutes and no one answered. He knocked again. Still there was no answer.

He was going to knock another time when one of the employees and said, "Santorini's in the auditorium with Hanar. They're talking about something."

Nathan's eyes widened and he ran off towards his room again. As he ran past the employee and said, "Thank you."

Nathan made it to his room and opened the chest at the foot of his bed. He tore out the clothes and pulled a gun out. He put the safety on and stuck it in his pants. He took off towards the auditorium ready to use the weapon if he had too.

**Armistice Station**

**Armistice Line**

The Colonial officer that served as a delegate for annual sending of an officer. For forty years, the Colonials sent an officer, but the Cylons sent no one. The officer went and sat down in the chair. He opened his briefcase and put pictures of his wife and son on the table and he started to go over the specs of the Cylon centurions that he would be meeting if one even showed up. He spent the next hour reading the specs and a book he had brought. As he was reading his book, he dozed off.

Another hour passed and the doors on the Cylon's side of the Armistice Station opened with a loud clank and hiss. The officer jumped and looked shocked as two Cylon centurions walked in. They were taller and looked different than the ones that the specs. They were sleaker and more menacing looking. The oscillating red eye was no V shaped instead of the straight across that was shown in his files. The two centurions each took a position on both sides of the doorway. The officer was scared as he stared at those two machines. He didn't know what to say.

After the longest two minutes of the officer's life, a Brie walked into the station. She was dressed in red boot and a long red trench coat. She walked up to him and the officer had no idea what to do. He just stared at her not believing his own eyes. How was this woman with the Cylons? What was she doing? Why did she cross the Line and wasn't killed?

She sat down on the table and looked at the officer in the eyes and asked, "Are you alive?"

Without thinking, he answered, "Yes."

Then it hit him. She wasn't a human. She was one of them. She was a Cylons. The Cylons looked human now. The Cylons were frakking identical to human beings now. He continued to stare at her in disbelief as she told him, "Prove it."

The Brie grabbed the officer's face and kissed him. He kissed her back in complete awe of how human this thing felt as the two kissed.

Outside the station, a massive shadow descended on the Station. A massive Y shaped ship was above the Station and launched a missile. It angled around and hit the bottom of the station. The bottom exploded in a massive explosion.

Inside the Station, the officer and Brie's kiss broke. It shook him back to reality. Brie tried to kiss him again, but he tried to pull away. His struggle against her was futile. She kissed him again.

Brie broke the forced kiss again and told him, "It has begun."

She kissed him for a third time as the table shook and papers flew everywhere.

Outside, the Y ship fired another missile and it hit the remaining part of the Armistice Station. The entire Armistice Station exploded and the Y shaped ship jumped away.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Canceron**

**Concert Orbiter**

**The Fall**

Nathan ran to the auditorium of the Orbiter and saw Hanar talking to Allison about something. He had an extension cord wrapped up in his hands. Nathan stopped running and walked down towards the stage. Neither one of them noticed Nathan as he walked on-stage behind Hanar. Nathan took the gun and turned the safety off. He raised the gun and shot Hanar twice in the back. Allison screamed as Hanar fell over on the ground. He was bleeding out on the stage and Nathan walked up and shot Hanar in the back of the head, spraying Hanar's brains everywhere.

Nathan looked at Allison and said, "We need to talk."

**Centarus**

"Admiral," said one of the specialist in CIC.

"Yes?" asked Adonai.

"We are getting weird readings from the Armistice Station," said the specialist.

Adonai's blood ran cold. His face froze and he looked at Persephone, his expressions dark. He asked her quietly, "Do you think?"

"Gods I hope not," Persephone replied quietly.

Adonai asked the specialist, "What kind of weird reading?"

"Readings that match two massive detonations," said the specialist.

Adonai's breathing sped up and he said, "My gods, they're doing it."

"What do you want to do, Adonai?" asked Persephone.

"The only thing I know to do," answered Adonai. He turned and said loudly to his CIC crew, "Okay, listen up. Those readings may be false, but they may be true. I would rather be safe then sorry. Go weapons hot. Be ready to scramble alert vipers on my mark. I know we haven't seen the Cylons in over forty years, but I don't want to be caught with my pants down. Do you? Let's just hope that those readings aren't real, but if they are, we need to be ready. So for now, set Condition 2 throughout the ship. If we get bogies, set Condition 1. Understood?"

The CIC hesitated and then said as one, "Yes, Sir."

Persephone looked at Adonai and said, "Yes, Sir."

"I hope this isn't for real," said Adonai.

"Me too," said Persephone, "I thought I'd never be at war with the Cylons."

"Me either," said Adonai. He looked up at the DRADIS and stood there, anticipation and adrenaline flowing throughout his veins."

**Concert Orbiter**

Nathan looked at Allison and lowered his gun. He told her, "We need to talk, Allison."

She looked at him in complete shock and horror. She said, "About what! You just murdered Hanar. Am I next?"  
"I would never hurt you, Allison," said Nathan, "And Hanar's not dead. He's being born in a goo bath right now."

"What does that mean?" asked Allison.

"It mean I have lied to you from the day I met you. I lied to you about where I'm from, but I haven't lied to you about the way I feel for you. I love you Allison Santorini. That will never change. Me telling you this is proof that I care for you," Nathan explained.

"What are you on about!" asked Allison. She was confused and tried to put things together.

"I am not human, Allison," said Nathan.

"What? You have to be. What else could you be?" asked Allison.

"I'm a Cylon," said Nathan.

"A Cylon?" asked Allison, "Do you expect me to believe that? The last time anyone saw them they were more like glorified toasters."

"Those models are still around, but they are no longer being manufactured. My kind of Cylon is being manufactured now, the human kind. There are 13 humaniod models. I'm a Nathaniel, a Number 2. I have always been a Cylon since we first met."

"If that's true, Nathan, then why are you here? What's your purpose?" asked Allison. She was less scared and now growing angry.

"We planted sleeper agents, humanoid models programmed to think they are human, into your civilization. Hanar was one of those agents. His model is Number 5. He was supposed to disable this ship, but he didn't. I didn't allow him. I was his handler. I was sent to monitor him and activate him when the time war ready, but something happened that I didn't plan for," Nathan explained.

"And what was that?" asked Allison now completely angry at him because she could tell he was telling the truth.

"I fell in love with you," said Nathan. His eyes watered at that very statement, "I fell in love with a human, my enemy. It was because of that I couldn't activate Hanar. This ship has FTL. Use that and jump far away from the Colonies."

"Why? What's going on?" asked Allison. Her anger gave way to fear again, "What's going to happen?"

**Raptor Flight 62**

"Centarus Actual to Raptor Flight 62, ground your flight immediately onboard Centarus's port flight pod. Don't ask questions. That is a direct order from Admiral Adonai himself. Do you understand?"

"Raptor Flight 62 to Centarus Actual, copy that. We will touch down within a couple minutes," said the raptor's pilot.

"We'll be waiting."

In the back of the raptor, Conner Gailec was sitting next to Brianna Swanson and asked, "What did you think of the commissioning ceremony?"

"I don't know. It wasn't what I thought," said Brianna.

"That's true," said Conner.

He was going to continue, but the pilot cut him off. She told the passengers, "We have been ordered to land onboard the port flight pod of the Battlestar Centarus. I'm sorry for the delay, but it's orders coming from a fleet admiral."

"That's fine," replied Gerald Bhuta who was sitting next to his wife, Jennifer.

"Why? What's going on?" asked Conner.

"I don't know," the pilot answered, "But it's orders and I have to comply. You can ask Admiral Adonai when you get onboard the Centarus."

"Okay," said Conner.

Brianna turned and asked Christina, "Who's Admiral Adonai?"

Christina opened her computer and searched for Adonai in the military records. She found his file and she read, "Admiral Struchen Adonai. He's the commanding officer on the Battlestar Centarus and the admiral over Battlestar Group 17 which includes the Battlestar Centarus, Battlestar Hera, Battlestar Uned and the one we just left, the Battlestar Byzantium. He is the youngest admiral in the fleet. It says he was born on Sagittaron to Gemenese parents and is the oldest of three children. He was seventeen when he left his family and went to Picon and joined the Colonial Forces. He became a Picon citizen seven years later. Is that enough?"

"Yes," answered Brianna, "I just want to know about him before I am forced to stay on his ship."

A siren went off in the raptor. The pilot looked around and asked himself, "What's going on?" She looked at the DRADIS and said, "Oh my gods!"

"What is it?" asked Conner from the back.

"I have two dozens unknown just jumped into orbit. They don't have Colonials signatures," the pilot rattled off, "According to the DRADIS, they are the size of battlestars. Oh frak! They're taking positions around the planet and they're weapons hot. Oh thank the gods, we're entering Centarus's flight pod."

**Concert Orbiter**

Allison asked Nathan, "What's going to happen?"

Nathan walked to the massive window wall that was at the back of the stage. He stared out the window and solemnly said, "The genocide of humanity."

"What?" asked Allison.

"Humanities children are returning home right now," Nathan said.

"You mean right now?" asked Allison. She cautiously walked up to Nathan and looked out the window. She saw over a dozen Y shaped ships jump into orbit around the planet. That feeling of fear, loneliness and hopelessness flooded back to her.

"There they are," said Nathan, "Those are Cylon basestars and they are going to make the sky fall and turn the Colonies of Man to a burning cinder."

Nathan turned back to Allison. The basestars started to take position around the planet and Allison said, "The Colonial Forces will win."

"No they won't," said Nathan.

"Why?" asked Allison.

"We've hacked the defense mainframe and put backdoors in all the battlestars and military vessels. With them gone, it is only a matter of time before the Cylons hunt down and destroy the civilian ships. This won't be a war. This will be a slaughter."

**Centarus**

"Admiral! We have two dozen bogies that just jumped into orbit. We're not getting any recognition codes," a specialist told Adonai. After a long ten seconds, the specialist added, "They are being recognized as Cylon basestars. They're going weapons hot."

Persephone froze and said, "They're here."

"Set Condition 1 throughout the ship and launch the vipers. Aim all of our weapons to the nearest Battlestar."

"Yes, Sir," some one of the techs in the room.

Persephone looked at the DRADIS and said, "They're taking position around the planet. They're avoid us, but they've launched raiders to get us."

"Tell the battlestars surrounding the planet to prepare for battle," said Adonai.

"We can't reach them. They've been cut off from us. Wait, I've got the Byzantium. Commander Bhuta's done the same as we have."

"That's good," said Adonai, "Take us in to fight those baseships. Our vipers can deal with the raiders."

"Yes, Sir," said a tech.

"Sir, the Cylons are sending something towards our ship and the vipers. It's a data package," said another tech.

"Of what?" asked Persephone.

"Frak! It's some kind of virus," said the tech, "It trying to shut down our ship."

"Vipers are reporting the same thing!"

"What are they doing?" asked Adonai.

"Most of the battlestar surrounding Canceron have shut down. Oh my gods, the Cylons are launching nuclear warheads at the lifeless ships and at us."

"How many nukes inbound?" asked Adonai with a fire in his voice.

"Five!"

"Tell some of the vipers to take out the nukes!" ordered Adonai.

"Yes, Sir!"

Outside in the battlefield, half a dozen of Centarus's vipers broke off their attacks on the raiders and targeted the nuclear warheads. One of the vipers got to close and a nuke locked onto it and detonated taking out several raiders in the process. The other four nukes were fired on by the five other vipers. The vipers were able to take out three more nukes before the raiders descended all on them. One viper made it through and locked on the missile. The pilot radioed, "Centarus. Roadkill. I've got the missile locked on. It's close so..."

A raider ran a kamikaze run and took out the viper and the missile continued on its course.

In the Centarus CIC, they saw Roadkill's viper explode on DRADIS and knew the missile was going to be a direct hit. Adonai saw the missile as it closed in on the ship. He told Persephone, "Brace for impact, Persephone."

"Never thought I'd hear that," Persephone replied.

"I know."

The warhead made it's way and hit the Centarus's head and exploded knocking the ship into an uncontrolled clockwise spin. Raiders and vipers fought as the Centarus started to spin down towards the planet below.

As for the basestars, they launched hundreds of nuclear warhead down on the planet down below. The missiles exploded when they the ground on Canceron. The genocide had begun.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Brace for impact, Persephone," Adonai said.

"Never thought I'd hear that," Persephone replied.

"I know."

The nuke hit Centarus's head. Everyone in the CIC was thrown down to the ground and the light flickered. Adonai fell to the ground and Persephone smacked her head on her station. She fell to the ground unconscious. Her head started bleeding badly onto the floor. Adonai saw her lying there. He moaned as he got up and shouted, "MEDIC!"

A medic ran to Persephone and Adonai took his post again. He turned to one of his officers at another station and said, "Lt. Viera! Any more inbound nukes?"

"No, sir," Viera said, "We have raiders inbound, Admiral. Our vipers are out numbered at least three to one."

"Get the gun captains to fire at the raiders. Get control over the ship again and take aim at the nearest basestar and fire frontal cannons," Adonai said, "Hell, go all weapons hot. Once they find out we're still standing we are going to be targeted by all the basestars."

"Yes, Sir," Viera said. He ran off and started carrying out Adonai's orders.

Adonai turned to the DRADIS and saw there were at least four basestars within weapons range. He knew it would be impossible to take on all of the basestars surrounding the planet, but he was going to take out as many as he possibly could. "Viera, you will assume XO duties until Commander Johanson has been cleared by the medical staff."

"Yes, Sir," Viera said. He took the post where Persephone had been. He told Adonai, "We have the first basestar in our sights."

"Fire away," Adonai ordered.

The Centarus's frontal cannons blasted away at its target basestar. The weapons hit the ship dead on. Before the basestar knew what had hit it, it was already destroyed. The three basestars in weapons range broke off from the planet and took aim at the Centarus, but the Centarus had aimed at one of the them before. It fired its ventral and frontal cannons at two of the basestars. Both of the basestars took heavy damage when Centarus's ordinance hit them. The raiders from the destroyed ships took aim at the Centarus but were cut off and engaged by Centarus's vipers. The last basestar launched ship-to-ship missiles at the Centarus and the Centarus responded. Several missiles hit the Centarus, shaking her up pretty good. The missiles from the Centarus hit the basestar and tore off one of the arms of the basestar. The enemy ship moved out of weapons range and several more basestars entered. All of them took aim against the Centarus.

Before they could fire, one of the basestars was destroyed and another was severely damaged. The other ships didn't know what had happened until a third basestar was destroyed. The Centarus took the opportunity and fired at another basestar, destroying it.

"Centarus. Byzantium. We're not going to let you take on all of these things by yourself."

Adonai was relieved when he heard that come over the speakers in the CIC. He turned to the people in there and said, "Don't be too relieve just yet. We still have sixteen basestars to worry about."

The remaining basestars surrounding the planet broke off and made their way towards the two battlestars. Centarus and Byzantium fired at the basestars as soon as they entered the battlestars' firing range. Over half of those basestars were destroyed before the remaining six basestars jumped away.

Onboard the Centarus CIC, Adonai said, "They're gone for now. They will be back. Their ships may not be as strong as ours, but they have the numbers. How's Canceron look?"

Viera looked at Adonai with a heavy face and said, "Hades is gone. A fifty megaton nuclear warhead was detonated over it. There are hundreds of other radiological signatures coming from the planet down below."

"How bad?" asked Adonai.

"We have to get people off of that planet," said Viera, "It's not safe to live there anymore."

"The planet's been destroyed," Adonai muttered to himself.

"I don't think it's just this planet," said Viera, "We've lost contact with fleet headquarters, the presidency, and every other battlestar other than the Byzantium."

Adonai was sick and couldn't understand why the Cylons did what they did. He looked at Viera and said, "Get every ship that has FTL capabilities off of that planet. Make sure they have as many people as they can possibly carry."

"That will leave a lot of people stranded down there," said Viera.

"Saving some is better than not saving any," Adonai said, "Get on it before the Cylons come back to finish us off."

"Yes, Sir," Viera was walking away and stopped. He turned to Adonai and asked, "Where do you want the fleet to jump to?"

"Icharus Station," said Adonai, "We need to reload."

"Yes, Sir," Viera said as he walked off.

Adonai turned and said to another lieutenant, "You have the comm."

"Yes, Sir," she said.

Adonai walked out of the CIC and down towards the infirmary.

**Concert Orbiter**

Allison looked in horror as the baseships fired down on Canceron. She saw a massive blinding light come from the planet down below. Nathan walked up to her and said, "That was a fifty megaton nuclear warhead. It was detonated over Hades."

"Were you part of this?" Allison asked in disgust.

"I was," Nathan confirmed but added, "Until I met you."

Allison turned around and snapped at Nathan, "So I converted you to our side!"

Nathan nodded and Allison punched him in the chest and hit him several times out of sheer anger and disgust. Nathan didn't do anything. He knew he deserved it. He took the gun and held it out for Allison to take. Allison was shocked and asked, "What do you want me to do with that?"

"If you want to kill me, do it," Nathan said, "I deserve it."

Allison looked at Nathan and asked, "Do you truly love me?"

"Yes," said Nathan.

"Then put that gun down and be taken as a prisoner of war," said Allison.

"What are you talking about?" asked Nathan.

"Look out the window," Allison said.

Nathan looked behind Allison and saw two battlestars firing away at the Cylon baseships. Nathan was floored, "How are they still active?"

"I don't know, but I think the gods have something to do with it," said Allison. The remaining basestar jumped away.

Nathan dropped the gun and nodded. He told Allison, "I will turn myself in only if you promise to tell them not to kill me."

"Why? You wanted me to kill you," said Allison.

"If I go back, I will be boxed," said Nathan, "I'm the only one who knew Hanar was a Cylon. If I'm killed and boxed, I want you to be the one to do it."

"What's boxing?" asked Allison.

"It's the capital punishment of Cylons. The Number 7 Cylon found that out the hard way," Nathan added.

"Number 7? What did that model do?" asked Allison.

"Went against the group," said Nathan, "The Sevens wanted humanity to live. So the rest of us rounded up most of the Sevens and boxed that model."

Allison thought for a moment and said, "I'll see what I can do, but I have no influence in the military."

"Thank you," said Nathan.

Allison looked out the window and saw the name that was on the closest battlestar. It said, "Centarus." Allison smiled and said, "Maybe I do have some influence. One of my best friends in on that battlestar right there. She's the XO of that ship actually."

Nathan was just a little relieved and said, "Thank God."

Against Allison's better judgment, she ran and kissed Nathan passionately. After she broke off, Nathan asked, "What was that for?"

"As much as I want to hate you, I can't. I love you, Nathan, and if that clouds my judgment I don't care. Besides, I don't want our last kiss to be in a battlestar's brig if I can't persuade them to not kill you," Allison said.

"I don't know what to say," said Nathan.

"Don't say anything," Allison said. Allison hugged Nathan and that reaffirmed Nathan's belief that humans didn't deserve to die. They may be flawed, but they weren't as monstrous as he first believed.

**Centarus**

Adonai walked into the infirmary and saw Amanda and Brian Kelner sitting next to Persephone's bed. Persephone was unconscious and had several stitches in her head. Adonai walked up to the chief medical officer, Major Gabrielle Santos and asked, "How bad is Persephone's wound?"

Gabrielle told Adonai, "The wound is just superficial. Her forehead's gashed, but the skull isn't cracked and from what I can tell, she doesn't have a concussion. She's asleep. It might not be that bad, but she's going to have one frakkin' headache."

"Thank you, Santos," Adonai said.

As Adonai was walking away, Gabrielle grabbed his arm. Adonai turned around and she told him, "You care for her more than a friend and she cares for you more than a friend. I've been listening to the communications. Canceron is gone and you and I both know that the Cylons wouldn't just attack one Colony with that many forces. They probably attacked all the Colonies. Go to her. You two need each other."

"But," Adonai started.

Gabrielle cut him off and said, "Go."

"Thank you," Adonai said.

He walked over to the Kelners and Persephone. She was still asleep. Adonai turned to the Kelners and said, "She'll be fine. We need to talk."

The three of them walked away from Persephone's bed and Adonai said, "The attack on Canceron by the Cylons was devastating."

"How bad?" asked Amanda.

"It's not safe to live on anymore. A fifty megaton nuclear warhead was detonated over Hades. The entire city is gone," Adonai said.

Amanda gasped and Brian asked, "What else?"  
"The planet's been nuked. We are trying to get as many people off of the planet as we can with the ships that FTL capabilities, but I don't think there will be that many. That's not all though. We only have made contact with one other battlestar, the Byzantium. Other than that, we can't get a hold of the other military vessels, Colonial Fleet Headquarters or the presidency. As far as we know, we could be the only survivors."

"Oh my gods," said Brian.

"I don't know how long it will take the Cylons to regroup and come back for us and the Byzantium so I've ordered the civilians to jump to Icharus Station along with the us and Byzantium. When all the ships with FTL get the coordinates locked in and are ready to jump, we will jump all at once."

Amanda walked off crying and Brian said, "I've got..."

"Go," Adonai said, "I'll stay with Persephone."

Brian ran off to get to Amanda. Adonai turned and walked over to Persephone. He sat down in a chair next to her. He grabbed and held her hand. He said, "It's bad, Persephone. It's really, really bad."

Adonai felt a hand on his back and her turned to see Danielle standing behind him. She asked, "How is she? I just heard."

"She'll be fine. She's just asleep right now," said Adonai.

"Is it true?" asked Danielle.

"Yeah," said Adonai, "Canceron is gone. As for the other Colonies, I think their fate is the same. I'm trying to get a fleet of survivors, but I don't know how many will survive."

"Some is better than none, Struchen," said Danielle.

"That's true," said Adonai. He looked at Persephone again and said, "I've got to get back to the CIC. Can you watch her?"

"Of course," Danielle said.

Adonai kissed Persephone's hand and he walked out of the infirmary. Danielle sat down next to Persephone and said, "He cares for you a lot, Girl. You better wake up soon."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Adonai walked into the CIC and asked, "How many ships have FTL?"

"Only seventeen and that includes the Concert Orbiter," Viera said, "All those ships have been given the coordinates."

"When they have their FTLs spooled up, tell them to jump," Adonai said.

Viera went to speak but hesitated for a moment. He finally said, "Admiral, we are going to leave a lot of people down there. Millions of survivors are going to die."

"There's nothing we can. Saving a few thousand is better than not saving any," Adonai told Viera.

"I know, but it doesn't seem right," said Viera.

"Nothing that has happened in the last hour has been right. Billions were killed in a senseless act of violence by the Cylons who broke the Armistice, but that is only here. We don't know the state of the other Colonies, but we have to assume the same," Adonai said.

"Sir," a specialist called, "We have a message coming in."

"From who?" asked Adonai.

"Admiral Nagala. The Battlestar Atlantia is now the flagship of the fleet. Fleet headquarters have been destroyed. We have been ordered to join the surviving battlestars over Virgon for a regroup and counterattack. Should we go?"

"No," Adonai said. He stared blankly at the DRADIS. He added, "Something's not right about that. I have a bad feeling about going to Virgon. Get on the horn and tell the Byzantium to continue on my orders. I'll deal with Nagala if he survives."

"Sir," said the specialist.

"Now you disobeying orders from the fleet admiralty," said Viera.

Adonai looked at Viera and said, "I'm part of the admiralty. Don't forget that."

"Yes, Sir," said Viera.

"Byzantium agrees with you," said the specialist, "They are going to stay and help here."

Adonai looked around and asked, "Are the ships ready?"

"All ships reporting they are ready," said Viera.

"Tell Byzantium to jump first and then the civilians," said Adonai, "We'll jump last."

Viera nodded and got on the horn, "Byzantium you are cleared to jump to Icharus Station."

The Byzantium jumped away from the fleet. A few minutes later, the civilian fleet jumped away. Right after that, twelve basestars jumped in orbit. They launched hundreds of raider and even more missiles at the Centarus. The Centarus jumped away as the missiles flew by the battlestar.

**Icharus Station**

All nineteen ships made it to Icharus Station. The station was one of the largest in the Colonial fleet. It was built to reload, refuel or repair battlestars in a time of war. It was far away from the Colonies and only the senior commanders of the fleet knew of its location. It was capable of docking multiple battlestars at once.

In the Centarus CIC, Adonai ordered, "Both the Byzantium and Centarus will reload and stock up on as much fuel as possible before the Cylons get here. The faster we are able to do that, the better for the whole fleet."

"While we're docked, the civilian ships will be defenseless," said Viera.

"Launch all off our bird and tell Byzantium to do the same. They'll defend the fleet if the Cylons arrive. Other than that, it's a risk we have to take. We have no choice."

"Sir," said Viera. He picked up his phone and was broadcast over the two battlestars only, "We will reload and refuel at the same time. Launch all vipers to defend the civilian fleet as the Centarus and Byzantium are docked. The faster we do this, the better for the rest of us. Centarus out."

"Let's get docked," said Adonai.

The two battlestars lined up to the station and both of them maneuvered into place. After several minutes both warships had hard seals with the Icharus Station. At the Centarus hard seal, Lt. Viera was leading the operation. He ordered the people in the operation, "Okay, people, we don't have that long. Get as much as we possibly can, but for gods sakes be careful and not drop anything that has the ability to explode, which is practically everything in this place."

**Centarus**

Persephone woke up in the infirmary and her head was throbbing as if someone smacked a frying pan over her head. Danielle was still there by Persephone's side. Danielle told her, "Be careful. Your head took a good beating."

"What happened?" asked Persephone.

"I'm not sure, but from what I've been hearing is that you were knocked out by a nuke that hit the ship's head," Danielle told her, "Right now we are at Icharus Station. We jumped from Canceron a couple hours ago."

"What happened to Canceron?" asked Persephone.

"Best Adonai tell you," Danielle said, her voice heavy.

"What happened?" asked Persephone, pushing through the pain.

"It's not good," said Danielle. Danielle stood up and said, "I'm going to get the doctor."

Persephone nodded.

Danielle stood up and walked to Gabrielle and said, "Persephone's up. Can you get Adonai down here? She wants to know what happened and I don't it's my place to tell her."

Gabrielle looked over at Persephone who was sitting up in her bed. The doctor nodded and said, "Okay, I'll get him."

"Thank you," said Danielle, "Get her parents as well."

Gabrielle said she would and she went to the phone and called the CIC, "She's awake."

Danielle walked back over to Persephone and said, "The admiral is on his way."

Persephone winced and said, "How long was I out?"

"Several hours," said Danielle, "You took a good hit to the head."

Persephone touched her head and felt a few stitches, "You're telling me."

After several minutes, Adonai walked into the infirmary. He walked over to Persephone's bed and said, "You're up."

Danielle said, "I'll leave you two alone." She left the two of them alone.

"Adonai, what happened?" asked Persephone.

"It's bad, Persephone. It's really bad," Adonai said. His voice was filled with sorrow as he went on, "Right after you were taken to the infirmary, a fifty megaton nuclear warhead was detonated over Hades and the whole city was obliterated. That was only the beginning. The entire planet was nuked from space. Only seventeen civilian ships and two battlestars made it out of that hellhole. The carnage doesn't end there. Fleet headquarters has been destroyed, we haven't got any message from the presidency."

"My gods," Persephone replied, "My home."

"Admiral Nagala has taken command of the fleet and has ordered all remaining battlestars to jump to Virgon for a regroup and counterattack," said Adonai.

"But we're not at Virgon," stated Persephone. She was at the breaking point.

"I didn't have a good feeling about going to Virgon," said Adonai, "I ordered the Byzantium and Centarus to dock at the Icharus Station to reload and refuel. Maybe then we'll jump to Virgon, but I doubt it."  
Persephone nodded and stared blankly at her feet. Her eyes watered up and tears flowed down her cheeks. She didn't move but asked, "Do you know how many people we on Canceron?"

"No," said Adonai.

"Sixteen billion people," said Persephone, "Over a billion in the Hades metropolitan area. Sixteen billion people are dead."

Adonai didn't respond. He sat on Persephone's bed and told her, "I know it's not much, but from the registry and maximum capacities of the ships that made it puts the survivors at around 19,000 and if you count the crew and personnel of both battlestars it brings the survivor count to about 24,000."

Persephone didn't respond and Adonai put his arm around her shoulders and knew there was nothing to tell her to make her feel any better. Her home had been nuked and as far as he knew, his home was nuked also. Persephone leaned into Adonai and started crying.

**Icharus Station**

"Let's move it people," said Viera, "We haven't got all day. Those mechanical monsters can show up at any time and I personally do not want to be caught defenseless. I'm sure none of you do either. So let's move."

One of the specialists walked up to Viera and said, "We have loaded up all the fuel that was available. Unfortunately, it's not as much as we would like. As for the weaponry, it's better than expected. We could be able to store a lot of it if we aren't attacked by the Cylons."

"That's good, Specialist Johns," said Viera.

Specialist Johns turned around and walked away from Viera to continue his job.

**Centarus**

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Adonai.

"I'm sure," said Persephone, "My headaches going away. Besides I don't want to be stuck her in the infirmary. I want to get back to my post."

"Be careful though," said Adonai.

"I'll be fine," said Persephone.

"I'm going back to the CIC," said Adonai, "I need an update on the progress."

"How long have we been docked?" asked Persephone.

"Several hours," said Adonai.

Persephone nodded and Adonai walked out of the infirmary. He made his way to the CIC and when he entered, he asked, "What's the progress?"

"We have all the fuel we could get from our portion of the station. It's not much. It could last us a couple dozen jumps. The weapons, however, are better. We're loading as much as we can until the station is dry or we can't store anymore, whichever one comes first," said the communications officer, "We are ahead of schedule actually."

"That's good news," said Adonai.

"Admiral," said the officer, "We have been getting requests from the Concert Orbiter. They want you aboard their ship."

"Why? I'm a little busy," said Adonai.

"I told them that, but they said they have vital information about the Cylons."

"What information?" asked Adonai.

"They wouldn't tell me. They only want to speak to you and Commander Johanson."

"Okay, I'll get her and go there," said Adonai, "There's nothing else to do."

Adonai was about to walk out of the CIC until the communications officer got a message that made his blood run cold. "Sir!"

Adonai stopped and turned around, "Yes?"

The officer got up and handed the paper to Adonai. Adonai's face fell as Persephone walked in. She asked him, "What's going on?"

"Admiral Nagala is dead. The Battlestar Atlantia's destroyed along with the Uned, Atlantica, Triton, Olympus, Colombia, Night Flight, Athena, Hera and the list goes on and on and on and on."

"Who the highest flag officer left?" asked Persephone.

Adonai didn't answer and looked at the communications officer. He told them, "I am taking command of fleet. All surviving ships jump to the Icharus Station. Coordinates will be given at end of message. The ships will take orders from the Battlestar Centarus until we can properly regroup. Admiral Struchen Adonai."

The officer nodded and went back to send the message. He sent the message and then got another one. "We have another message. It's distorted, but it says something about jumping to the Ragnar Anchorage."

"When we're done here, we'll jump there," said Adonai, "There might be more battlestars out there. You have the deck until we get back."

"Yes, Sir."

"Persephone, you're with me," said Adonai.

"Where are we going?" asked Persephone.

"To visit one of your friends onboard the Concert Orbiter," said Adonai, "Allison Santorini."

"She's alive?" asked Persephone.

"The Orbiter somehow survived the battle," said Adonai, "Let's go."

Adonai and Persephone walked out of the CIC and down towards the port flight deck. Persephone thought about both of them going and asked, "Should we both be going?"

"Probably not," Adonai, "But they requested you, but they said they had information on the Cylons so I'm going to. Besides I've got several marines going with us."

"I guess that's okay," said Persephone.

As they walked onto the deck, they were joined by four marines. The deck chief saw them coming and said, "Admiral. Commander."

"Chief Moriarty," said Adonai, "We need a raptor to go to the Concert Orbiter."

"Why?" asked Moriarty.

"That's on a need to know basis," said Adonai.

"I get it," said Moriarty. He was stressed out as it was and now his bosses didn't tell him why he needed to prepare a raptor for him.

"Jason, it's okay," said Persephone, "We'll tell you when we get back."

Moriarty conceded and said, "It'll be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you, Chief," said Adonai.

When the raptor was prepared, Adonai and Persephone went onboard and the two were one their way towards the Concert Orbiter. During transit, several civilian ships jumped to the Icharus Station and took position within the fleet.

"We'll be reaching the Orbiter in a couple minutes," said the pilot, Lt. Julia "Jewels" Khan.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Persephone.

"We're getting a message from Centarus," said Jewels, "The reload's done on the Centarus side."

"Great. Tell Centarus to break hard seal and take up position to defend the fleet in case the Cylons show their heads," said Adonai, "If they do show, give the fleet the coordinates to the Ragnar Anchorage."

"Yes, Sir," said Jewels.

The raptor flew into the Orbiter's docking bay. Adonai and Persephone walked out the raptor, followed by their marines. The six of were greeted by the captain of the Concert Orbiter. He said, "The reason we called you is in the auditorium. It's been locked off and the two in their will only speak to you."

"Let's go then," said Adonai.

The captain led them towards the auditorium and knocked on the door. Adonai pushed the intercom button and said, "This is Admiral Struchen Adonai of the Battlestar Centarus. You said you had information about the Cylons."

The door unlocked and Nathan opened the door. He saw the admiral and commander standing in front of him with four marines. Nathan backed off and let them in. He shut the door before the Orbiter's captain could get in.

Allison saw Persephone walk in and she ran over to her and hugged her, "Persephone, what's going on out there?"

"We're still trying to put things together," said Persephone. Persephone saw Hanars lifeless body laying on the floor behind Allison. She asked, "What happened?"

"He was a Cylon," said Nathan.

Adonai and Persephone looked at Nathan. Adonai asked, "What are you talking about?"

"The Cylons look human now," said Nathan, "Straight down to the blood."

Persephone was listening and saw wall of pictures on one of the walls back stage. She walked over to the wall as Nathan and Adonai talked.

Adonai asked, "How do you know that?"

"Before I saw anything, you promise not to kill me," said Nathan, "You can throw me in the brig, but don't kill me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Adonai.

"I'm a Cylon," said Nathan.

"Really? Why would do you think we would believe that?"

"Because it's true. And for Allison, she had no idea until today that I was a Cylon. I am telling you this because I made my choice before the attack. I chose to defect and I killed that agent lying there on the ground."  
Persephone saw the picture that got her attention and she said, "Adonai!"

"What?" asked Adonai.

Persephone tore the photo off the wall and ran over to the Admiral. He handed him the photo and said, "Look at the guitarist."

Adonai looked at the photo and said, "What about him?"

"He's part of out deck crew. That's Specialist Hanar Johns," said Persephone.

"Oh my gods, you're right," Adonai finally recognized him.

Allison chimed in by saying, "That was my guitarist's name, Hanar."

"See what I mean?" asked Nathan.

Adonai turned to Allison and asked, "You knew nothing about this?"

"Not until he killed him," Allison said as she pointed to Hanar.

Adonai looked at her and said, "I don't know you, but for some reason I believe you."

"Thank you," said Allison.

"As for you," said Adonai as he turned to Nathan, "You are coming with us. Marines, arrest this thing."

Nathan didn't put up any resistance as the marines handcuffed him and led him out of the room. Adonai followed and so did Persephone. Allison ran up to her and said, "I'm coming with you."

"Ally, I don't think now's the best time," said Persephone.

"I know, but I'd rather be on a ship that can withstand as attack," said Allison.

Persephone conceded and said, "Come on, but stay out of the way on the ship."

"I will," said Allison.

**Centarus**

The marines led Nathan into the brig and Adonai said, "I have no reason to keep you alive. I should kill you right here, right now, but that would lower me to your level. When this is over, I'll be back."

"It won't be over anytime soon," said Nathan, "You're going to have to jump beyond the Red Line. Right now, this system is a hornet's nest of Cylons."

"I'll take that into consideration," said Adonai.

He walked out of the brig and walked back towards the CIC. As he took his post, a marine came up to him and said, "We have Specialist Johns in custody. What do you want my men to do with him?"

"Lock him is an isolated cell in the brig. Don't let our prisoners see each other," said Adonai.

"Yes, Sir," said the marine. He got on his radio and gave the commands to his men.

Persephone walked over to Adonai and said quietly, "I can't believe they look like us now."

Adonai looked around and said, "Not here. My quarters."

Persephone nodded and asked, "Is there anyone here who could make a test to determine human from them?"

"I have an idea," said Adonai, "I'll get him. You get Allison, the marines that know and yourself into my quarters. I'll get the person I'm going after."

"Yes, Sir," said Persephone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Conner Gailec was sitting anxiously in the chair that was in the room that was given to him. He didn't know what was going on and no one would tell him. He had eaten or drank anything in hours. He was too stressed out. One minute he was sitting in a raptor and the next he is in mortal danger as twenty-four baseships jump into orbit around Canceron. He had never been that close to death and he personally never wanted to again, but that was wishful thinking.

He jumped when their was a banging on his door. He got up and answered it. He saw the soldier standing on the other side and asked, "Are you going to tell me what going on or do I have to wait for your superior?"

"I am the superior. I'm Admiral Adonai, and I need you to come with me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to tell you what's been going on," said Adonai.

"Well, you could've said that first, Admiral," said Conner.

Conner followed Adonai down the corridors of the Centarus to Adonai's quarters. Adonai let Conner go ahead of him. In the room were four marines, Persephone and Allison. Conner looked at Adonai and asked, "What's going on?"

Adonai shut and locked the door behind him. He said, "We have a huge problem. The Cylons look like us now."

"What?" asked Conner.

"Straight down to our blood," said Persephone.

"You're serious?" asked Conner.

"The admiral is serious," said Persephone.

"Then that's a very bad thing," said Conner, "That mean if Cylons looks like us then..."

"Anyone could be a Cylon," said Adonai, "I know about you, Gailec. You studied biology when you were at the Virgon Global University."

"I dropped out," said Conner.

"Right now you are the closest thing we have," said Adonai, "I need you to find out the difference between human biology and, lack of a better term, Cylon biology."

"You do realize that the human body is just a very advanced biological machine so that would make Cylon biology the correct term," Conner explained.

"That's not the point," said Adonai, "Find a way to tell the difference. These four marines will be your guards."

"I understand why you, the marines and this woman in the military uniform are in here, but why is a Colonial celebrity standing in this room with us?" asked Conner.

"She was involved with one of the human model Cylons," said Adonai, "And I believe her when she says she didn't know about that. The Cylon who was involved with her is locked in the brig. He's going to be your test subject for the Cylons."

Allison was looking down at the floor, listening to what was going on in the room. She spoke up and told them, "There are only thirteen Cylon models."

"How do you know that?" asked Persephone.

"Nathan told me," said Allison.

Adonai looked at Conner and said, "One of our Cylon prisoners."

"You have more than one?"

"We now the identities of at least two models," said Adonai, "Nathan's model and a model who's named Hanar."

"The Nathan one seems to be very cooperative, but it could just be a rouse," said Adonai, "As for the Hanar, it's not very cooperative."

"So you want me to test the Nathan?" asked Conner.

"Yes," said Adonai, "When you find out what's the difference between human and Cylon, you find me and tell me."

"I will, Admiral," said Conner.

"Good," replied Adonai, "Marines."

Allison looked up at Adonai. Her eyes were red from silently crying and she told him, "If you're interested, Nathan is a Number 2 model and Hanar is a Number 5 model."

"Thank you, Santorini," said Adonai.

"You can call me Allison," Allison told him.

"Okay," said Adonai, "Thank you, Allison."

Allison didn't reply and looked down again.

Conner asked Adonai, "Where do I go?"

"My marines will show you," said Adonai, "I have set aside a lab for you. If you need an assistant, let me know so I can debrief that person. This matter of Cylons looking like us is classified as not to cause a panic."

"I understand," said Conner. With that, the five of them left.

Adonai motioned for Persephone to come to him. He told her, "She doesn't have to go back to the Orbiter. I'll have her stuff transported over here when we get out of the danger zone, and I'll find a room for her to stay in as soon as I can."

"Thank you, but I think she shouldn't be left alone," said Persephone, "I told her she could stay in my cabin until she wants to get out."

"That's fine," said Adonai, "She looks like she needs the company. She loves him."

"Yeah, she does," said Persephone.

The phone in the room went off and Adonai walked over and answered it, "Adonai...Really? I'll be right there."  
He hung the phone up and walked to Persephone. He told her, "Make sure you can do whatever you can to help her."

"I will. What was that about?"

"A ship just jumped in claiming to have the president on board."

"Adar's alive?"

"Maybe, maybe not," said Adonai, "I'll meet the president. You take care of her."

Adonai walked out of the room and towards the starboard flight deck where the president was going to land. Adonai was met by Moriarty and few other knuckledraggers. Moriarty asked, "Do you think it's Adar, Sir."

"To be honest," said Adonai, "I don't think it's Adar."

The raptor carrying the president was brought around and Adonai waited as the door hissed as it opened. Several people jumped out and then a woman around the same age as Adonai stepped out. She had brown hair that went down past her shoulders and she was a few inches shorter than Adonai at an even six feet tall. Adonai recognized her immediately, "Helena!"

The woman looked at Adonai and said, "Oh my gods. I never thought I'd see you again, Struchen."

"I could say the same thing about you," Adonai told her.

She jumped down and the two of them hugged each other. "It's been so long."

"Yeah, about ten years," said Adonai, "I'm not a lieutenant anymore. I'm an admiral."

"An admiral?" asked Helena, "How did you become an admiral at 31 years old?"

"I'm great at my job," said Adonai.

"You no idea how you did, do you?" asked Helena.

"No, I don't," said Adonai.

Someone cleared their throat behind Adonai and he turned to see Moriarty and Persephone standing there. "This is?" she asked.

"This is Helena Justice. We grew up together on Sagittaron and we've known each other since we were babies," said Adonai.

"Then Struchen here ran away when he was seventeen years old."

"I couldn't take it anymore," said Adonai, "Anyway, Helena, this is Commander Persephone Johanson and Deck Chief Jason Moriarty."

"Commander? Shouldn't you be commanding a battlestar if you're of the commander rank?" asked Helena.

"A lot of things don't make sense on this ship," said Persephone.

"Okay, whatever you say," said Helena.

Moriarty raised a finger and said, "I have a question. Are you the president, Ms. Justice?"

"Oh! Yes, I am," said Helena.

Adonai turned to Helena and said, "You were talking about me being an admiral at 31 years old. We're the same age and you're the president."

"I'm the president because everyone ahead of me in succession was killed. There were nine people between Adar and me. I got the message that they were all killed just a few moments before we jumped. I've been the president for an hour."

"Now that you are the president, there is something Persephone and I must tell you in private," said Adonai.

"What is it?" asked Helena. She didn't get an answer and she said, "Oh, I get it."

The three of them walked towards the inter sections of the ship and left Moriarty to his flight deck. He told a blonde knuckledragger in an orange jumpsuit, "It looks like the president and our beloved admiral are close friends, Ester. Who knew?"

In Adonai's quarters, he told Helena everything about the Cylons and that she was one of only eight people that knew. Helena couldn't believe it, but she knew it was true deep down. She didn't know what to say as Adonai's phone rang again. He answered it and said he'd be in the CIC in a minute.

"What is it?" asked Persephone.

"The Gemnes just jumped in. It's support vessel," said Adonai.

"So we've got three warships now," said Persephone.

"A battlestar is a lot stronger than the support vessels though," Adonai said.

The internal sirens went off in the ship. Adonai and Persephone took off towards the CIC with Helena in pursuit. Adonai ran into the CIC and asked, "Viera, sit-rep!"

"Several baseships jumped in," said Viera, "Civilian fleet is jumping to Ragnar like you told them to."

"I hope there are no baseships at Ragnar," said Adonai, "Tell the Gemnes to jump to. What about Byzantium?"

"She finished about an hour ago," said Viera.

"Get our birds back!" said Adonai.

"We've got to get to the civilian fleet. Tell the pilots to land on the nearest battlestar and not go to their assigned ones," said Adonai.

"Enemies launching nukes!" said Viera, "We've lost three of the civilian ships!"

"Fire until all planes within our vicinity are aboard then jump," ordered Adonai.

"Yes, Sir," said Viera.

"What about Byzantium?" asked Persephone.

"Commander Bhuta has that ship under command," said Adonai, "He'll jump when all the birds in his vicinity are aboard."

The nukes launched by the Cylons smashed into the Icharus Station and broke it in two. The heat and fire inside caused the remaining munitions in the station to start firing. Debris and weapons' discharge from the station shot at the two battlestars and their planes. All the vipers around Centarus were aboard and the battlestar jumped away to Ragnar. When the vipers around Byzantium were aboard, the ship tried to jump but didn't. The Cylon's fired several nukes at the ship. The Byzantium tried to jump again as soon as the nukes came in. There was a blinding white light and the Byzantium was gone and the baseships jumped away.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Ragnar Anchorage**

The Centarus jumped to the Ragnar Anchorage and Adonai asked, "How many of the civilian ships made it?"

"Forty-six, Admiral," said Viera, "With the Gemnes, it's forty-seven. Total amount of ships that made the jump: forty-eight."

"Forty-eight?" asked Adonai.

"Byzantium didn't make it," said Viera, "There a massive nuclear explosion after we left. Byzantium's gone."

Adonai tensed up and smashed his fist on the table. "FRAK!"

"We down to one battlestar," Persephone said to herself.

"Sir, we've got tons of debris on the DRADIS," said Viera, "It looks like there was a fire fight here. There are remnants of dozens of ships. At least one of them was a battlestar."

Adonai looked up at Viera, his eyes ablaze. He told the lieutenant, "Get a raptor out there. I want to know which battlestar it is."

"Yes, Sir," said Viera.

"After you do that, Viera, calculate a jump," said Adonai. He rubbed his eyes.

"To where?" asked Viera.

"Beyond the Red Line," said Adonai, "There's nothing here for us. They Cylons took all of that away from us."

"I've never calculated a jump that far."

"No one has, Lieutenant. The Red Line is the boundary. You're going to be the first one to do it. Go make history," said Adonai.

"Yes, Sir," said Viera. Viera left to carry out the admiral's orders.

Persephone walked over to Adonai's side of the table and asked quietly, "Are we just going to leave our homes behind?"

"Yes," said Adonai, "They're nuclear wastelands now. As much as I hate to, we have no choice. This system is Cylon hornet's nest."

"I know," said Persephone, "But we don't know what's beyond the Red Line."

"Yeah, we do," said Adonai, "We know Kobol's out there."

"That's it," said Persephone, "Nothing else."  
"Something is better than nothing," said Adonai.

"I guess you're right," Persephone replied. She looked out into the hallway next to the CIC and saw Helena running to the room, "Looks like our new president has found her way here."  
Helena came into the CIC and asked, "What happened?"  
"The Cylons jumped in on us at Icharus Station," said Adonai, "We lost four ships including a battlestar."

"So that makes this the only battlestar left?" asked Helena.

"Yes," answered Adonai, "This is the only battlestar left."

"Sir, we have a list of our pilots that aren't aboard," a specialist told Adonai and handed him a list with several names on it including the ship's CAG.

"We lost our CAG," said Adonai, "How many of Byzantium's people made it?"

"Only four, Sir. Captain Swanson has asked to see you, but I told him you were busy," said the specialist.

"Tell him I'll meet with him once we've jumped out of this system," said Adonai.

"Yes, Admiral."

**Raptor 618**

Jewels flew her raptor towards the wreckage. It looked like there was once a fleet here but the Cylons won out. She shined her light across the space and found a flight pod of an older model battlestar. She flew the raptor onto the other side and turned it around. She shined the light on the name of the flight pod. It read, "Galactica".

Jewels got on her radio and said, "Centarus. Jewels. The destroyed battlestar is the Battlestar Galactica. From the remains of the other ships, I'd say there were around sixty different ships out here. Whoever they were, they didn't make it past the Cylons. From my readings, the Galactica was hit by half a dozen nukes and countless ship to ship missiles. That could have been enough to severely damage a newer battlestar, but for the older Galactica, it destroyed her."

"Copy that, Jewels. Return back to Centarus. We're getting out of here."

"Understood Centarus. I'm heading back," Jewels replied.

**Centarus**

Conner Gailec had drawn blood from the very cooperative Nathan, and he was testing it's characteristics compared to human blood. So far nothing had changed. They were identical. Conner didn't know what to try next. He sat down in his chair and spun around thinking what would be able to tell the difference. There was a knock on his door, and Conner stopped spinning. He got up and answered the door. He saw Brianna standing on the other side. He said, "Brianna, what brings you here?"

"I heard that the admiral put you to work on something. I was wondering what it was," said Brianna.

"I can't tell you. It's classified."

"Do you need an assistant?" asked Brianna, "I'll be more than willing to help."

"Really?" asked Conner, "I won't tell you why, but what could distinguish two different blood sample that are practically identical with one being human?"

Brianna thought and said, "Try a radiation that humans aren't effected by. If you have a human sample, that won't change, but if the blood sample isn't human, it will be effected."

Conner thought for a minute and said, "That's genius. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thank you. I'll let you know if that works. I will, but I have to get back to work."

"Okay," said Brianna, smiling. She added, "I'll see you later."

"I'll see you too," said Conner before he shut the door to his lab again. He walked over to his sample and said, "Sillica radiation."

He went on with that theory for his determination.

In the CIC, Adonai waited patiently as the jump calculations were being made. Persephone had gone back to be with Allison. Helena was sitting down in the CIC not knowing what to do. She wasn't ready for all the responsibility that was about to burden her. She was a first term delegate to Quorum back on Caprica. She was a political rookie according to her peers and they were right. She was still learning the ropes when it came to how the government ran. Now she was thrust up ten places and now sat in the presidency. She was scared of what she would have to do and all the weight that was going to be put on her shoulders. She was slightly relieved, however, with her knowing the fleet admiral. That calmed her a bit but not enough. She stood up and walked over to Adonai. She asked him, "How much longer before we jump?"

"About half an hour," said Adonai, "Calculating a jump as far as I ordered takes a while."

"Oh," she replied.

Adonai looked at Helena and saw what she looked like. He was concerned and asked, "Are you okay?"

"No, Struchen, I'm not. I was only serving my first term as the Sagittaron delegate. I've only been in office for two years. Now I'm the fraking president of the fraking Colonies. I don't know what to do."

"Do what you believe to be right. Other than that, create a new Quorum. Get a vice president. That way the stress falls on all of you and not just one person," Adonai said.

"I know. I'm just scared of all it," said Helena.

Adonai put his hand on her shoulder and said, "I know. I'm terrified right now. I never planned on being the admiral of the fleet, and I never dreamed of protecting the remnants of humanity against an endless enemy horde. We've both been thrown into positions of leadership and power that neither one of us are ready for. We just have to follow what we believe in and not waiver."

"I know your beliefs, Struchen, but I've been praying to the Lords of Kobol ever since you said we're leaving this system," said Helena, "It helping me relax a bit."

"I been praying too, Helena, but not to the Lords of Kobol. You believe what you believe and I'll believe what I believe and that will help us persevere in the end. Don't stop praying just because I don't believe in the gods."

"Thank you," said Helena. She hugged him and he hugged her back. After the hug was over, Helena said, "You're one of the few people that makes me feel short."

"I'm three inches taller than you," said Adonai with a smile.

"I know, but I need something to make me smile," said Helena.

Adonai looked at Helena in the eyes and said, "Do you need to go back to your ship? I'm fine here."

"No, no, I'm good," said Helena.

"Are you sure?"

"No," said Helena, "Are you good?"  
"No, I'm not," said Adonai, "But I've a few friends and my youngest sister onboard."

"Isabel's here?" asked Helena.

"Yeah, but haven't seen her since before the attacks. I wonder where she is," said Adonai.

"She'll show up," said Helena, "Isabel was crushed when you left. Joey, however, wanted to follow you wherever you went, but your parents wouldn't let her."

"Joey always wanted to be like me. She even became monotheistic because I was," said Adonai.

"She wanted to join the Colonials too."

"Now she's gone in a raging inferno," said Adonai.

"You don't know that. She could be on one of those ships," Helena replied.

"What the odds of that?"

"I know they're small, but still," said Helena.

Twenty minutes later, Viera said, "Coordinates plotted. We're ready to jump."

"Give the coordinates to the fleet and let's leave this hellhole behind."

"Yes, Sir."

Viera gave the fleet the coordinates and the orders to jump on Centarus's mark. A few minutes later, sirens went off again. Viera looked at the DRADIS and said, "Four baseships just jumped in."

"Tell the fleet to jump!" ordered Adonai.

Viera got on the radio and said, "Centarus to fleet jump. I repeat jump!"  
The civilian ships and the Gemnes all jumped at once. Adonai said, "Let's get out of here. Jump Centarus."

"Yes, Sir," Viera said, "Jump!"  
The Centarus jumped as dozens of missiles were flying towards it. All forty-eight ships made it during the jump, and the Centarus fleet didn't have the same fate as the Galactica fleet.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Beyond the Red Line**

The Centarus jumped into the middle of the forty-seven ships in the fleet. The massive battlestar dwarfed the rest of the ships in the fleet with the exception of the Concert Orbiter which was only slightly smaller than the battlestar.

In the Centarus CIC, Adonai stared blankly at the DRADIS for several minutes. He didn't break his gaze and asked, "How many ships made it?"

"All of them, Admiral," Viera told him.

"That's good," Adonai said. He looked down at table and added, "Viera give the order to execute Hanar Johns, and I'll be right back."

"Yes, Sir," said Viera. He got on the radio and gave the order to the marine outside Hanar Johns's cell.

Adonai left the room and Helena followed him out. She asked him, "Adonai, what are going to do?"

"I don't know," said Adonai, "I don't know anything anymore."

Helena stopped and grabbed Adonai's arm. He stopped walking and turned to her. She told him, "I know something."

"What? That I ran," said Adonai, "I'm thinking what would have happened if I would have stayed."

"You're seriously not thinking that, are you?" asked Helena, "Because we both know the answer to that. You would have been destroyed just like the rest of the fleet, but you weren't. Since you didn't fight back you were able to save thousands of lives where you wouldn't have saved any of us."

Adonai looked at her and said, "That's true but where do we go now?"

"I don't know yet, but we'll find a new home," said Helena, "Kobol's out there somewhere."

"I know but the Cylons will be looking for that planet to prevent us from settling on it," Adonai told her, "Kobol's out of the question."  
Adonai started walking down the hallway again.

"Well we'll find another world," Helena said, walking with him.

"That's like searching for a certain blade of grass in a Leonan plain," Adonai responded.

"True, but we have to try," said Helena.

"Yeah, we do," said Adonai.

In his lab, Conner was drifting off to sleep as he was waiting for the test to get over with. He sat in his chair with his head laying on his right arm. Right as he dozed off, his computer beeped loudly and Conner jumped awake. He looked at the results and smiled. He talked to himself, "It worked. She was right. Thank you, Brianna."

Conner printed the results and ran out of the room. He told the marines beside his door, "Don't let any one in. If the woman that came earlier comes by again, tell her I'm meeting with the admiral and I'll be right back."

"Yes, Sir," said one of the marines.

Conner bounded through the hallways of the Centarus with the paper in his hands. The results had fully awakened him. He nearly crashed into several people as he found the admiral talking to a woman about his same height. He never saw her before. That didn't matter. Conner ran up to admiral, "Admiral Adonai."

Adonai turned to Conner and asked, "What is Dr. Gailec?"

He didn't respond and glanced over at Helena.

"I see," Adonai said, "My quarters."

The three of them walked to Adonai's quarters and he shut the door. Helena sat down on the couch in the room and Adonai sat in his desk chair. He said, "Dr. Gailec this is the newly sworn in president, President Helena Justice, and she knows."

Conner nodded, "Before I go on, you do know I'm not a doctor right."

"You're the closest thing we have right now. Just accept the title," Adonai said, "What did you find out?"

"How to distinguish the two species," Conner answered, "I hit a dead end early on, but then I used Sillica radiation to test on the samples. The Cylon sample was destroyed in a few hours and the human sample was unaffected."

"What made you think of using that certain kind of radiation?"

"Actually it was more of someone," Conner said, "I didn't tell her anything, but asked her what could distinguish two different species from each other. She suggested radiation and I knew Cylons are susceptible to Sillica radiation because it disrupts their Sillica pathways. That's actually why it's called Sillica radiation."

"Who gave you the idea?" Adonai wondered.

"Her name's Brianna Swanson," Conner said, "She said she'd be my assistant if I needed one. I could use one. It takes hours to test a sample. Having more people being tested could help besides without her, I wouldn't have thought of using Sillica radiation for a lot longer than I did."

"I'll debrief her as soon as I can. Swanson sounds familiar though," Adonai thought. Then he remembered, "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" asked Helena.

"Captain Swanson wanted to see me," said Adonai, "He's been in the flight deck the whole time."

Adonai ran out of the room and made his way down to the flight deck. He saw a man sitting next to a viper. He was dressed in his combat uniform. Adonai saw the name plate on the viper and it read, "Captain Jeremiah Swanson - War Crime." The man saw Adonai coming and he stood up and saluted. Adonai saluted him back and asked, "Are you Captain Swanson?"

"Yes, Sir," said War Crime. The man was the same height as Adonai. He had short brown hair and a goatee and mustache growing. He added, "I'm the Byzantium's CAG."

"You don't know?" asked Adonai.

"Don't know what?"

"Captain, the Byzantium was destroyed back at Icharus Station over eight hours ago," said Adonai.

"How many of Byzantium's birds made it other than me?" asked Adonai.

"Three," said Adonai, "Their call signs are Beast, Mustang and Lightening."

"Where do we report to be assigned to our new flight wings?" asked War Crime.

"Actually, Captain," Adonai said, "I lost my CAG at Icharus Station. You happen to be a CAG that doesn't have a battlestar. I don't know you yet, but how would you like to be my new CAG?"

"Why?" asked War Crime.

"You're already one and you know the drill. I need someone like that. As far as I know, you are the only surviving battlestar CAG in the fleet so the options are limited to you," said Adonai, "Byzantium and Centarus are identical in design so I'm sure you can find your way around. Go wash up and find a bunk that no one has. Tell your three pilots to do the same."

"Yes, Sir," said War Crime.

Adonai walked off and back towards the inner of the ship. He realized he had Conner's results in his pocket. He must have shoved them in when he took off. He unfolded the results and smiled. He walked towards the executive officer's quarters. He knocked on the door. Persephone opened the door and saw Adonai. She walked out and shut the door.

"Good news, Persephone," said Adonai.

"What could possibly be good?" asked Persephone.

"We have a way to tell human from Cylon apart," said Adonai.

"Who was the human sample from?" asked Persephone.

"Allison. She volunteered to prove she was human and it worked out in her favor," said Adonai, "Speaking of Allison, how is she?"

"The same as us except for the fact the man she's in love with is a Cylon agent who helped in the destruction of the Colonies," Persephone said.

"Is she in there?" asked Adonai.

"No, she's down with Nathan," Persephone told him, "But a couple of marines are standing guard. What are we going to do?"

"What do you mean?" asked Adonai.

"Yes, we are alive, but it's not enough just to be alive. We need something to live for," Persephone told him.

"What do we live for?" asked Adonai.

"Remember that night we were laying outside and you told me about the times you spent looking at the stars when you were on Sagittaron as a child?"

"Yes, why?"

"You told me to read about the thirteenth tribe of Kobol and I did," said Persephone, "I read about Earth. Get on the radio and have a fleet wide broadcast. Tell them you are going to find a new home. Tell them you are going to lead them to Earth."

"I have no idea where Earth is," said Adonai. Adonai realized something though, "I know where Kobol is though."

"What?" asked Persephone.

"We'll go to Kobol and that'll point us in the direction of Earth," Adonai said, "I'm going to go do that right now."

"I'm coming with you," Persephone said. She grabbed buttoned up her uniform and the two of them walked towards the CIC.

Adonai walked into the CIC and said, "Viera, get me fleet wide broadcast."

"Yes, Sir," said Viera. Viera nodded.

Adonai picked up the phone and said, "People of the fleet. This is Admiral Struchen Adonai of the Battlestar Centarus. I know what you're thinking because I'm thinking the same thing. What do we do know? I'll tell you what we do now. We will search for a new home. That's what we will do, but where will we find a new home in the great vastness of space. I want you to know that the Twelve Colonies of Kobol are not the only ones. There is a thirteenth tribe of humans. A thirteenth tribe that left Kobol ages ago, Earth. Earth is that thirteenth tribe. That will be our new home and sanctuary, a sanctuary those Cylon monsters don't know about, but there is a problem. I don't know where Earth is, but I do know the place that will put us on the right track, Kobol. The location of Kobol was only revealed the admirals of the fleet only days before the attack and I was one of there. When we reach Kobol, it will point us in the direction of our brothers and sisters on Earth. Make no illusions for yourself. It will not be a smooth ride. It will be a rocky, long and strenuous road, but I promise you one all of those lost in the senseless slaughter of the Colonies, we will find it. We will find Earth and be reunited with our lost brothers and sisters. I promise you, and I intend to keep this promise until my dying breath. Don't lost hope, people. Don't lose hope. That's it. We'll find Earth. We will find our salvation. Thank you."

Adonai hung the phone up and the crew in the CIC stared at him in awe. Persephone smiled at him. She walked over to him and told him, "That's more like it."

Viera heard something over the internal radio. He smiled and put it over the speakers of the CIC. Adonai looked at the speakers when he heard the sounds of cheers and applause coming over the speakers. He smiled and hugged Persephone who didn't reject it. "We'll find it," she told him.

"I know," said Adonai.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"So Brianna Swanson, you've brought here because Dr. Conner Gailec believes you can help him," said Helena.

Brianna was sitting across the table from both the President of the Colonies and the Admiral of the Fleet. She would have been terrified, but Conner was sitting in the chair next to her. She asked, "What do you want me for?"

"What we are about to tell you only nine people know," Adonai told her, "Cylons look like us now straight down to our blood. Dr. Gailec here has found a way to distinguish human from Cylon and has asked for you to be his assistant."

"Why?" asked Brianna.

"You gave me the idea to use Sillica radiation," said Gailec, "Because of that, I was able to create a way to tell the difference."

"You do realize that if you will have to be tested yourself," Adonai said, "You can't anyone about the fact that Cylons look like us."

"Why not?"

"Just think about it," Helena said, "If people found out, they would be accusing people left and right for the silliest of reasons."

"I get it," said Brianna, "But how many models are there are?"

"Thirteen," said Adonai, "Two have been identified only."

"So there are eleven models unknown and you want me to help Conner to find out who they are," Brianna said. She looked at Conner and then back at the admiral, "I'll do it."

"Good," said Adonai. He stood up and said, "If you'll excuse me, it has been a long day and I'm going to stop by the brig before I lay down to get some rest. I have to ask our Cylon prisoner a burning question."

"What's that?" asked Helena.

"Why he's saying he'll help us," Adonai answered. With that, he left the small conference room.

* * *

In another part of the ship, War Crime was making his way down one of the corridors close to the pilot ready rooms. He was exhausted and looking down as he walked and he walked right into someone. He looked at her and his eyes were drawn to her dark red hair. He quickly went to help her up and said, "I'm so sorry."

"That's okay," she told him. She saw the pins on his collar and said, "You're a captain."

"Yeah," he said, "Captain Jeremiah Swanson."

"Swanson. I like that name. I'm Danielle, Danielle Seves. I'm not in the military. I'm friends with the admiral and the XO."

"So you're friends with the royalty of the ship then," smiled War Crime.

"I guess so. Yeah," Danielle said. There was a moment of awkward silence and she broke it by asking, "Do you want to get something to eat later?"

War Crime smiled at that and said, "Only if I can get some sleep first."

"Yes," Danielle answered.

"Okay," said War Crime, "I'll meet you in the mess tomorrow at lunch time."

"I'll be there," said Danielle.

"I'll see you," War Crime said and the two of them walked off their own separate ways.

* * *

Adonai walked into the brig and stared at Nathan through the glass. He used the intercom to talk to him. Nathan was standing on the other side looking at Adonai in the eyes. Adonai waited several minutes before asking, "Why did you tell me you would help us?"

Nathan didn't answer for a minute and said, "I defected from the Cylons."

"Why?" asked Adonai.

"I fell in love with Allison," answered Nathan.

"I would say that machines can't fall in love, but that reminds me of something someone told me."

"What's that?" asked Nathan.

"Nothing that concerns you as of this moment."

"Fine. If you show me someone you suspect to be a Cylon, I'll let you know if they are or not before the testing. If you don't believe me, test them anyway, but you need to know one thing. Not all the Cylon models voted for the destruction of the Colonies."

"What do you mean?" asked Adonai.

"There was one model, the Number 7s, that voted against the genocide of humanity. If you find a positive Cylon and it's female, show her to me and I will tell you if she's a Seven."

Adonai chewed on that statement for a while and then asked, "How far are you willing to go to gain my trust?"

"As far I can," answered Nathan, "But I won't give out all my information at once."

"Why?" asked Adonai.

"Come on, Admiral. You and I both know the answer to that. Information is the only thing I have. If I tell you everything I know, you'll probably put a bullet in my brain."

"Or vent you out an airlock."

"That too," said Nathan, "So yeah, I'm not going to tell you information all at once such as the model names for the other Cylon models."

"Now that is a start," said Adonai.

"Start to what?" asked Nathan.

"Of gaining a little bit of my trust," said Adonai.

"No one trusts me so that's a little encouraging to hear you say that," said Nathan.

"I wouldn't say that. I still think your girlfriend still trusts you," said Adonai.

"Yeah," said Nathan.

"I'll be back," said Adonai.

The admiral turned and started to walk out of the room. Nathan asked, "Do you think you'll find it?"

"What?" asked Adonai.

"Earth."

"I have to believe."

"You're wrong," said Nathan.

"About what?"

"The Cylons know about Earth, but they don't think it exists."

Adonai didn't reply and left the brig, leaving Nathan alone.

* * *

Conner and Brianna were in the lab. Brianna was sitting in a chair as Conner took a sample of her blood for testing. As he drew the blood, she asked him, "How long does a sample take to test?"

"Around seven hours," Conner told her, "At least that's how long it took for Nathan's sample to decay and die off. If you sample hasn't decayed in eleven hours, it's safe to say that you are human and not Cylon."

"I could have told you that," said Brianna.

"We have to be sure," Conner told her, "I'd rather test a sample and not need to than not test someone and they end up shooting the president."

"Don't say that," Brianna said.

"It wouldn't happen," said Conner as he placed the sample into the testing machine. He turned to Brianna and said, "That's it. Check by tomorrow to see if your a human or a toaster with skin. If it's okay with you, I'm going back to get some rest. The past day has been hectic and insane."

"Yeah, worst day ever, huh," Brianna said. She chuckled at that.

"What?" asked Conner as he grabbed his coat.

"I used to say that all the time when I was younger. It never was the worst day ever, but this time it really is the worst day ever. Fifty billion people killed for no reason."

"I sure the Cylons have some twisted reason for killing all those helpless people," Conner replied.

"Why? Why? What reason would anything have to commit genocide? There is no reason. No fraking reason at all!" Brianna broke down. She put her hands over her face and she started crying.

Conner sat on the arm of the chair and put his hand on Brianna's shoulder. "It's okay."

Brianna put her hands down and replied, "It's not okay. Don't lie to yourself, Conner. There is no okay anymore. Everything is dead and gone. We've got nothing left."

Conner didn't know what to do and just sat there staring at his machine. She was right. There was no okay anymore. His world was gone and there was nothing anyone or anything could do to erase that fact. Maybe time would numb them to the harsh reality that there was less than a sliver of the human race still alive out there, but he kept his hopes alive for Earth. He never believed that Earth existed, but now he had nothing else to believe and from the way the admiral spoke of it, he believed in Earth. Conner continued to sit there quietly as Brianna was crying.

* * *

Persephone was standing in front of the mirror in her quarters. She was standing there in her robe after she got out of the shower. After she put her hair in a ponytail, she picked up a necklace with the symbol of Poseidon. She held it in her right hand and held it up to her chest. She closed her eyes as she said, "Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. Take the souls of you sons and daughters lost this day and make them rest peacefully in the paradise of the Elysian Fields. Guide us, your children, to the land that has been promised to us. Guide us to Earth and protect us from our children as they seek to kill us and give us the strength we need to survive this journey. Our journey to the Promised Land."

She looked at herself in the mirror and her breathing became loud and broken as she broke down in sobs over her bathroom sink. "What did we do to deserve this?" she asked through her sobs.

There was a knock at her door and she wiped her eyes but was still sniffling when she opened the door. Adonai was standing on the other side of the door. His uniform was unbuttoned and he looked exhausted. Persephone saw him and said, "Wow, you look like hell."

"One of us has to," Adonai said, "Can I come in?"  
"Yeah, sure," Persephone said. Adonai walked in and Persephone shut the door the behind him. She asked, "What's going on?"

Adonai looked at her and told her, "About two weeks before the attacks, my sister said something to me."

"What did she say?" asked Persephone.

"She asked me what it would take for me to realize something. Maybe even the destruction of the Colonies. She was right," said Adonai, "I realize with all the death and destruction, she was right."

"What was she right about?" asked Persephone.

Adonai looked Persephone in the eyes and told her, "I love you, Persephone Johanson. I always have from since we first..."  
Adonai was interrupted by Persephone as she grabbed his face and kissed him. After the kiss, Persephone said, "I love you too, Struchen. I didn't know I did until the bombs fell hours ago."

"Thank God," said Adonai.

"God?" asked Persephone.

"That's not important right now," said Adonai.

Persephone smiled and said, "You're right, it isn't."  
The two of them kissed again.

* * *

In the brig, Allison walked in and asked the marine guarding him, "Can I go in there with him?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am," said the marine, "You can't."

"Please," Allison begged, "He won't do anything to me. According to him, I'm the reason he's sitting on that bed rather than being with his own kind."

The marine looked at the desperation in Allison's eyes and he said, "Okay, but be quick. You're not supposed to be in there."

"I will," said Allison.

The marine opened to door to Nathan's cell and Nathan looked up to see Allison standing in the room with him. The marine shut the door and Nathan ran over and hugged Allison. She hugged him back. When they broke it off, he asked, "Why are you here?"

"Call me stupid, insane, an idiot. I don't care. I should hate you with every fiber of my being, but I don't, Nathan. I love you with every fiber of my being, and I believe you when you say you defected," Allison said as she sat down on the bed.

"And I love you too," Nathan said, sitting beside her.

"How can a machine love?" asked Allison.

"What defines a machine?" asked Nathan, "And what defines a human?"  
"I don't know," said Allison, "But that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you here then?" asked Nathan.

"Career change," Allison said, "I'm signing up for the Colonials."

"What?" asked Nathan.

"They need pilots. They have the planes, but their short on the people to pilot them," said Allison, "It's something I want to do and I wanted you to know."

"That's good," said Nathan, "But don't do it out of revenge."

"I'm not doing it out of revenge," said Allison, "I feel the gods are telling me to do that."

"Follow what you believe no matter where it leads you. That's I'm doing right now and I don't even know if I'll wake up tomorrow."

The two of them laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling together. Nathan put his arms around Allison and the two of them laid there in silence.

Outside the cell, the marine was about to ask Allison to leave when Helena walked in. She told him, "It's okay marine."

"Madame President," said the marine, "What is she doing in there?"

"She loves him unconditionally," said Helena, "She can't imagine a life without him, and as weird as it sounds, I think he feels the same way about her. Leave the two alone for the night. Presidential orders."

"Yes, Ma'am," said the marine, "Can I ask why?"

"What's your name, Marine?"

"Sgt. Vasquez," said the marine.

"Well, Vasquez, we need to be by the people we love now," said Helena, "Those two were lucky. The person they love the most didn't die in the attack. How many made it from your Colony?"

"I don't know," Vasquez said, "I don't know how many even survived from Aquaria."

"So you're Aquarian," stated Helena.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I'm sure there is someone out there in the fleet who you cares for you," said Helena.

"Are you sure?" asked Vasquez.

"Yes," Helena said, lying through her teeth. She knew the odds of that actually being true and so did Vasquez, but hope was something everyone needed.

"Madame President?"

"Yes, Sergeant," replied Helena.

"Do you believe we'll find Earth? Will we find our lost brothers and sisters?"

"I don't really know, but we have to believe. Earth is out there. I believe that much. I hope you have a good night, Marine. Look on the bright side," Helena told Vasquez, "Tomorrow can only get better from today."  
"That's true," Vasquez said, "Good night, Madame President."

"Goodnight, Marine."

Helena walked out of the room and Vasquez went back to monitoring the Cylon prisoner as he slept on the bed next to Allison.

Outside, the Battlestar Centarus was in the middle of the caravan of ships. It was a massive sight to behold and with it the whole hopes and dreams of the remnants of humanity laid on it. It was a sign of hope for the future, a future that would hold the fate of mankind in its hands. This was it, a measly forty-eight ships were left. Out of a great and mighty civilization, only tens of thousands of humans made it out alive. These ships were the human race and within their walls held the many who now held on to the dream of the mythic Thirteenth Tribe of Kobol. The dream of Earth.

**The End**

* * *

I plan on doing a series for Centarus that will follow the same format as BSG, and as for the story, some will remain the same, but there will be significant differences throughout. That series won't be post on John Sayers but on the pen name Battlestar Centarus Series.


End file.
